p a i n t
by lotusunset
Summary: /SOKKAxAZULA/ After Suki's untimely death, Sokka needs to do a little soul-searching. Along the way he finds Azula living in a small town, making a humble living as an artist. He also discovers she's keeping a secret she didn't even know she had.
1. PROLOGUE

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA, unfortunately~

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_"Lord Zuko, the head doctor from the Ho-Shan Institute is here," The messenger boy said, bowing to his Fire Lord._

_"Very well, send him in," Zuko said with interest. The messenger ran off to fetch the doctor. After a few minutes, the messenger came back into the throne room, the doctor following close behind him. Both bowed to their Fire Lord._

_"Good afternoon," Zuko greeted the man. The doctor sat up straight, staring up through the red flames at his leader._

_"Good afternoon, your highness," the doctor replied, " As I'm sure you know, I'm Sang Li, the doctor overseeing Princess Azula's care at the institute."_

_"Yes, I know. What is your business? An update on her condition, I suppose?"_

_"Yes. Your sister has recovered beautifully. I've never seen such a drastic recovery from any other patient before. She's barely recognizable as the wild monster she was five years ago," the doctor explained, astonishment in his voice._

_"That's wonderful. May I see her soon?" Zuko inquired, rubbing his chin._

_"No," The doctor said immediately. Zuko looked at him with slight offense. The doctor started to further explain himself, "I still don't believe that would be wise. I wouldn't want to risk all of the progress she has made."_

_"I suppose that is understandable," Zuko said with a sigh._

_"Yes, which is why I highly suggest that when she is released, she be released in the Earth Kingdom," He added. Zuko leaned forward, looking curious._

_"Azula is my sister and she is Fire Nation royalty. She belongs here in the Fire Nation," Zuko stated sternly._

_"I know, your highness, but being in these familiar places may trigger dormant memories. Even with as much progress as she has made, I still don't believe it would be safe to bring her here. There's a potential trigger around every corner here, sir."_

_"What happens if something triggers her?"_

_"We don't know. That's why its better not to risk it. She could be fine, or she could revert back to the way she was when she came to the institute, which wouldn't be very good, would it?"_

_Zuko closed his eyes, remembering the day of Sozin's Comet. He had many a nightmare over that particular day..._

_"If Azula is as stable as you say, though, shouldn't it be her decision where she goes? Azula should know what's best for herself."_

_"And she does, your highness. She has already expressed her desire to go to the Earth Kingdom. She said she needed a change of scenery. Volcanoes get boring after a while, was her exact statement, if I don't recall," The doctor explained, a small smirk on his face._

_"Well, that definitely sounds like Azula...I suppose I can't really stop her if that's what she wants to do, where she wants to go. Just make sure she knows she always has a home here in the Fire Nation, here in the palace," Zuko said with a reluctant sigh._

_The smirk grew on the doctor's face, "I'll be sure to relay the message, my Lord." _

_

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**p a i n t**

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"Aang, I'm really worried about Sokka..." Katara sighed, sitting down on a cushion beside the Avatar.

"I know, I'm worried about him too," Aang replied.

"Eh, he'll get over it eventually," Toph added, leaning back against the wall.

"Toph, his wife just died, as did his baby! Show a little sympathy, would you?" Katara snapped.

"I did show plenty of sympathy. A week ago at the funeral. He can't dwell on this forever. Staying locked in his room forever isn't going to help anything, now is it?" Toph explained herself, picking her nose. Even at age twenty-one, she still dug around in her nostrils.

"Toph!" Katara exclaimed. Aang reached out and put a hand on Katara's shoulder to calm her down.

"She does kind of have a point, Katara," He said, "Sitting there in his room isn't going to change anything. Suki was a great friend to all of us, and it was a terrible, terrible loss for all of us too, but staying in there forever isn't healthy..."

For a few short moments, silence fell between the group. Only the heavy rain could be heard pitter-pattering outside.

"I wish Zuko hadn't needed to leave so soon," Katara said suddenly, "Maybe he would have been able to get through to Sokka..."

"Yeah, maybe," Aang said.

"There's nothin' Lord Sparky can do that I can't. Well, 'sides from firebending, but earthbending is better anyway,"

"Have you tried to get through to Sokka at all, Toph?" Katara questioned.

"Not yet. I figured he'd be out of it by now. And weren't you just bothering him anyway?" Toph said right back.

"You haven't tried either, have you, Aang?" Katara asked the Avatar. He shrugged.

"Not since yesterday. Would it make you feel better if I tried again?" Aang questioned. Katara looked down to the floor.

A flash of lightning lit the room, seconds later the thunder rumbled. Toph suddenly stood up.

"If none of you are going to go knock some sense into him, then I will," She said, moving towards the wall. The floor was wooden so Toph couldn't exactly see with her feet. Aang and Katara watched her, slightly surprised looks on their faces.

By now, Toph had the layout of the small Kyoshi home memorized. She lightly brushed her hand against the wall to find which corner to turn and to figure out how many doorways she had passed. One, two. She stopped at the third door.

"Sokka, get your ass out of bed!" She exclaimed, slight irritation in her voice.

No answer. But she could hear him doing something in there.

"Can I at least come in?" She questioned.

Still no answer. Sighing, Toph didn't wait for permission. She just slid the door open and entered Sokka's room. He stopped moving around.

"Toph, what are you doing?" He asked immediately. Those were the first words anyone had heard out of him all week.

"Oh, so you do still have a voice!" She teased. He knew she couldn't see him, but Sokka glared at her anyway.

"What are you doing?" Sokka asked again.

"Trying to knock some sense into you," Toph replied, crossing her arms.

"No need, Toph. I'm fine," Sokka said stubbornly.

"This is the first time you've said anything to anyone all week. You've spent most of your time locked in your room. Enough is enough, Sokka," Toph said, her voice stern.

"Enough of what? I'm fine."

"Oh come on! Sokka, we all know what this is about, so stop playing dumb, okay? Even though I know you can be pretty dumb sometimes," Her tone grew a little harsher with a bit of minor irritation, "You can't spend the rest of your life in that room."

"I wasn't planning on it," Sokka responded with a sigh, "I'm kind of glad you barged in, actually," He explained. Toph could hear that he started moving around the room again. Though she couldn't see it, he was packing some of his things into a small sack.

"Why?" She asked, curious.

"Because now I won't have to explain myself in front of everyone," He said, a small, forced smile on his lips.

"Sokka, what the hell are you doing?" Toph demanded.

"I decided that I...just...I just need to get away from everything for a while," Sokka said, trailing off a little bit.

"What!?" Toph exclaimed, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm going to leave. Tonight, actually. I just need some time to think. Alone. Away from everyone, everything," Sokka said sadly.

"...And why don't you want to tell everyone?"

"Because it'd be too hard, I guess. And I really don't feel like arguing with Katara about it. Its just...easier if I go," Sokka trailed off again. He stopped packing bag on his bed.

"So you're going to just...up and run from it?" By it, she meant the untimely deaths of Suki and the baby.

"No. This is just my way of dealing with it, I guess," Sokka sighed.

"You're not going to go away forever, are you? Because then I'd have to track you down and pummel you," Toph threatened, leaning against the nearest wall. Normally, she would have argued with him about the subject, but she was exhausted. Sokka shook his head in slight amusement.

"No. I won't be gone forever. Promise."

"Any idea how long you'll be gone?" Toph's voice grew softer, somewhat sadder.

"...No, not really," Sokka admitted, "But I'll try to keep in touch as much as I can."

"When are you planning on leaving?"

"Tonight," Sokka said quietly.

"Where are you going?"

"Not sure exactly. Was thinkin' about going back home for a while. Maybe I'll go see the Mechanist. Go visit Iroh. I'll figure it out."

Quiet. The rain seemed to grow louder.

"...I suppose I should let you go then, eh?" Toph asked with a sigh, "And break the news to Twinkletoes and Sugar Queen."

"Yeah, I guess," Sokka replied. In an instant he had a master earthbender latched on to him.

"Be careful out there, okay? I don't wanna be hearing shit about you gettin' in trouble," She explained. Sokka loosely wrapped his arms around her, returning the embrace.

"I'm not going to get into any trouble, Toph," Sokka pushed her off of him and grabbed the sack off the bed.

"Alright, I believe you. Kinda. Not really, but hey, at least you're getting out of this room. I'd say this gets a 'mission accomplished'!" Toph shrugged, trying not to look upset by the fact he had pushed her away.

"I'm going to sneak out the back. Distract them long enough that I can get down to the shore?" Sokka asked, though it was more of a statement.

"Yeah, sure," Toph said quietly.

"I'll miss you, and everyone else," Sokka said. Before Toph could reply, he was already almost silently sneaking down the halls and out of the house.

Toph sighed, placing her hand against the wall again and starting to walk back down the hall to where Aang and Katara were still sitting, waiting. This wasn't going to be pretty.

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Oh snaps~

I'm sure there's a million and one questions everyone wants answered right now, but you're going to have to wait! More thank likely they'll be answered...eventually~

Feedback is greatly appreciated!

~Miss Frerak


	2. chapter ONE

A/N: Just to clarify, in the prologue, the italicized portion is set approximately five years after the end of canon and the normal text is set at about nine years after canon. By the end of this chapter, another year has passed so that would make everyone ten years older than they are in canon. (Aang=22, Sokka=25, etc., etc.) I hope I didn't just confuse everyone...^^;

Also? I apologize for this chapter. I know its kind of boring, but completely necessary. . Next one is much more interesting, I promise~

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Although Sokka had his theories, he still wasn't quite sure what had compelled him to leave like he did. It hadn't been a well thought out decision, but it had been a spur of the moment one. An instantaneous feeling that Sokka just had to get out. The most logical reasoning behind his decision, Sokka concluded, was that it was easier to move on while traveling than it was staying in one place. Or maybe Sokka just didn't know of any other way to cope. Regardless of the reasons, he knew deep down that leaving was the best course of action at the moment. He needed time to himself.

After he had left Kyoshi island, Sokka traveled between the islands that were between Kyoshi and the South Pole. For the most part, those islands were deserted. There were a few small citites on a few, but nothing particularly noteworthy. To the sane Earth Kingdom citizen, these parts were just too damn cold. To Sokka though, the climate was relatively tame. Exploring those mostly uncharted places was exciting at first, but the game of surviving in the wilderness was just too easy for a seasoned expert like Sokka. It didn't keep his mind busy enough to dull the pain. He wondered if spending time with his family would...

Eventually, he made his way back to the South Pole, only after he knew Katara wasn't planning any visits back home anytime soon. He was almost certain that even if it had been a little over a month or so since he had seemingly disappeared, that she'd still want to rip him a new one for not even saying good-bye. He spent time with his father and Bato, who were as close as ever. He spent time with Gran-Gran and Grand Pakku, even if the old man detested being called that.

Being home did make Sokka feel a little better about Suki's untimely death, but it only lasted so long. After about two months, Sokka felt compelled to move on somewhere else. He imagined it had something to do with the clear night skies. Sokka always felt like he was being watched, thanks to Yue and the old legends that your loved ones turned into the sparkling stars above once they had passed.

So to avoid that feeling, Sokka found himself in the Fire Nation. He figured it was smoggier there with all the factories; the night skies wouldn't be so crystal clear. Even if it was hot all year round and it was a climate Sokka wasn't used to, he still enjoyed being there. The Fire Nation still seemed like some exotic place to the warrior. As he went from island to island, Sokka was glad to see the people were happy and that the country was prospering under Zuko's rule. Since the Fire Nation was so populated, it was easy to just wander around and find odd jobs to make enough money to live off of. Sokka also spent a few weeks with Piandao. Getting a little guidance from his master helped Sokka a lot more than he realized at the time.

After corresponding with Zuko a few times, Sokka made his way to the capital city to pay the Fire Lord a visit. When Zuko learned how one of his best friends had been living in his country, he had insisted that Sokka stay a while and enjoy the royal treatment. And Sokka did, in fact, enjoy the royal treatment. It left him plenty of time to think, something Sokka knew he needed to do. Even if this is how Aang's people had lived, Sokka knew he couldn't live like a nomad forever.

Once Summer came, Zuko decided to take a few weeks off and drag Sokka along with him. Sokka had been extremely reluctant to go to Ember Island because of all the memories the place held for him, but once he got there, Sokka was pleasantly surprised. Sure, the memories still hurt, but they didn't hurt nearly as much as he thought that they would. That had to be a good sign, right? Zuko was even making comments that Sokka was actually starting to have a sense of humor again.

By the time Sokka had decided to leave the Fire Nation, almost five months had passed. It was so easy to lose track of time there.

Sokka found his way back to the Earth Kingdom, but he wasn't exactly sure where he wanted to go. Eventually, he wanted to make it to Ba Sing Se and visit Iroh and get to the Northern Air Temple. He hadn't seen the Mechanist in a long time.

But currently, Ba Sing Se and the Northern Air Temple were far, far away. And since traveling by air bison wasn't really an option right now, it'd take Sokka a long time to get to either place. So he decided he'd just enjoy the scenery for a while. For the most part, Sokka traveled near the coastline, heading east. Along the coast the towns were almost evenly spaced; only a few days between each one. It made it much easier to restock on supplies and keep in touch with everyone, something Sokka had been being very good about lately. In every town he came to he either sent a letter or received one from one of his friends.

By the middle of autumn he made it to GaoLing. Sokka didn't spend very much time there though, for Toph had been in Omashu with Katara. Sokka stuck around in GaoLing long enough to catch the Earth Rumble, though. It was still an entertaining spectacle, but it didn't thrill him quite as much as it did when he had been a teenager.

Somewhere along his journey Sokka decided he wanted to see Chameleon Bay again. It had been one of the few places he had gotten to spend much time in his previous travels. He also heard there were certain kinds of fish that only lived in the bay. So Sokka, being the meat connoisseur that he was, just had to go check it out. Never mind the fact that going around this way would completely avoid the Serpent's Pass and the main ferry docks. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop associating either place with Suki. Sokka had realized early on that the less often he thought about her, the less it hurt. Sure, he had managed back at Ember Island to keep his mind in check, but there was plenty to do on Ember Island. Sitting on a ferry or walking across the pass, there really wasn't much to keep his mind occupied. Sokka didn't want to chance it.

After the rather monotonous journey to the bay, Sokka spent the rest of the winter there. He found a job on a fishing boat and thought it best to earn some more money before he moved on ahead towards Ba Sing Se. Sokka had spent nearly all the funds Zuko had given him, after all. And those certain kinds of fish in the bay? They were as good as Sokka had heard, maybe better, even.

Even if there was still a void there inside, for the most part, Sokka was feeling back to his old self. He was beginning to realize that after a year since Suki's death it was time to move on with his life. She wouldn't have wanted him to stay stuck in the past forever. Yue wouldn't have wanted that either. Sokka still wasn't quite sure of himself about it though...

...But fate sure was.

He had been just southeast of Ba Sing Se, moving towards the Earth Kingdom capital. He traveled along the Dong-Wu river. The towns were small, but closely bunched together on the riverbanks. Most of them were fishing towns, but as Sokka went further inland, they turned into farming towns too. Then there was Makung. For being so close to Ba Sing Se, it was rather large compared to the other towns on the river.

Sokka had just sent letters off to Katara and Aang. He had sent one to Zuko in the last town he had been in. So now he was just wandering aimlessly around the town. It was midday so it was relatively busy. He wanted to get something to eat, maybe find somewhere to stay for the night. Or a few nights. There was just something about this town that was drawing him in. Something about this town made him want to stay more than a night or two.

He walked up to a cart filled with various kinds of fruits and vegetables. Sokka didn't feel like cooking up some meat at the current moment. He just wanted a little snack anyway. He browsed the selection as the man tending the cart talked to an old friend. Sokka didn't notice the woman standing next to him until they both reached out to grab the same papaya. When their hands touched, Sokka stepped back and looked down at the woman as she grabbed it. She had dark hair tied back in a long braid that nearly touched her behind. Her bangs were cut neatly across her forehead. The dress she wore was loose around her figure, dirty and ripped. Underneath the grime, she was an awfully pretty woman though. There was no possible way Sokka could know her from anywhere, but for some reason, he felt he did. She just seemed so..._familiar_.

She glanced up at him, tossing the papaya up in the air a few times, a small smirk on her lips. She tossed a few copper coins to pay for her fruit and walked away.

After that short encounter? She seemed to pop up everywhere Sokka went.

Instead of buying fish in the marketplace, Sokka just went and sat by the river with his fishing rod to catch his own dinner. Since he wasn't having much luck at the moment, he let his eyes follow the flow of the water. And there she was again. Her dress was pulled up above her knees and her hair was messily piled up on top of her head. She had a look of fierce determination as she washed her clothes in the river. Sokka found himself staring at her, watching her, trying to figure out who she was. There was no doubt in his mind that he knew her. He started trying to go through all the names and faces of people he knew, but was jolted from his thoughts by a bite on his line.

A day or so later he saw her again in the center of town. She was painting a portrait of a couple posed near the water fountain. Sokka wandered in a little closer to look over her shoulder. He didn't want to get too close to her, but from what he could see of the painting, it was rather good. He felt a little pang of jealousy as he watched her. Sokka always kind of wished he was good at more artistic things like that. Seeing a small tip jar on the ground, Sokka dropped a few copper pieces and a silver piece in there before he continued on his way.

In Makung, there were more than a few places for the consumption of alcoholic beverages. So when Sokka saw that woman sitting a few seats down from him at the counter, he was starting to get a little frustrated. He still didn't know who she was, still had no clue whatsoever. Her hair was down today, a big black mass that nearly consumed her head. If he hadn't been a little tipsy, Sokka would have gone and talked to her, but he was afraid that if he asked her who she was he'd forget by morning. So he asked the barkeep instead.

"Hey. Who is that lady over there?" He asked, pointing in the direction of her. The barkeep looked at Sokka skeptically.

"Well, I don't really know. I'm not sure anyone really knows. She keeps to herself all the time. She's kind of a recluse, doesn't like people too much. She comes here every week though. Never says a word to anyone," The barkeep explained with a sigh. He grinned, "Drunk men try to hit on her all the time though. She either ignores 'em or she beats 'em up good. She ain't the kinda girl you wanna mess with."

"How long has she been here?" Sokka asked, his words slightly slurred together.

"'Bout five years I think. Could be less, could be more. I dunno where she came from, so don't even ask..."

Sokka didn't question the man more. Even with that information, he didn't have any clues as to who she was. This was starting to drive Sokka mad. He had to know who she was. In fact, Sokka vowed the next time he saw her, he'd confront her, ask her who she was. As long as he was sober.

Strangely enough, the next day, Sokka didn't see her at all. He found that ridiculously ironic. And frustrating. When morning came again, however, Sokka saw her again. He was exploring through the outskirts of town, through the more residential areas. Obviously, she was outside of her home, which from what Sokka could see, was immaculate. She shook out a rug before running back inside to fetch another one. Sokka knew he promised himself he'd talk to her the next time he saw her but he'd feel awfully rude and awkward if he confronted her right now. Of course, he might not see her again, but Sokka was willing to take the chance.

So he just kept on walking by, hoping that he would see her again in town. He really did want to speak with her. It really was making him crazy, trying to figure out who this woman was. He couldn't stop thinking about her, in fact.

Later on in the day, Sokka was back in town. He was just about to go back up to the cheap room he had been renting at the inn for a nap. It was the busiest time of the day, so a walk that normally would have taken ten minutes now took almost half an hour. Sokka weaved in and out of people trying not to bump into them. It was definitely a task easier said than done. When someone unknowingly cut Sokka's path off, he had to stop dead in his tracks, causing the person behind him to bump into him. She cursed under her breath as she dropped her sack of things and it crashed to the ground, the contents spilling all over. Sokka whipped around to see what had happened and saw her things scattered. He dropped down to his knees and immediately started helping her gather them. It took him a few moments to realize it, but he recognized her dark hair tied back in a braid. This was her! This was that woman he kept seeing everywhere!

"My apologies, sir," she said, plucking the things Sokka had picked up out of his arms and stuffing them back into her sack, "The crowds are ridiculous this time of day."

"Its no problem, really," Sokka replied with a smile. Hearing his voice, the woman looked up at him. At first, she looked at him with mild curiosity, her eyes bright. Then her eyes narrowed on him and she frowned. With the look she was giving him, Sokka suddenly felt like his life was in danger.

And then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He knew who she was.

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There, see? Next chapter will be _very _interesting~

You should totally leave me a review because I'm awesome. JK.

But any feedback is greatly appreciated!

~Miss Frerak


	3. chapter TWO

A/N: This chapter was a blast to write. I usually start writing the next one before I post, but I wanted some feedback on Azula before I continued, kay?

If you have any questions, I supposed I could try to answer them~

Enjoy! =D

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"What are _you_ doing here?" Azula spat, quickly snatching the rest of her things from Sokka.

"I was just passing through town," Sokka replied quickly, backing away from her slightly. Sokka couldn't really remember if Aang had taken her bending away or not. In fact, Sokka barely remembered hearing anything about Azula since she had been released into the Earth Kingdom five years ago.

"I don't believe you," She said stubbornly. If looks could kill, if looks could kill...

"I swear, I was headed for Ba Sing Se. I'm just waiting for letters from my sister and Zuko before I head off again," Sokka said, standing up straight and brushing the dust from his clothes. Azula followed, standing up and eying him closely, skeptically. When he mentioned her brother's name though, that death glare came back.

"Right. And I'm supposed to believe that?" Azula scoffed, slinging her sack over her shoulder. It freed up her hands just in case she needed to pummel him.

"Yes, you are! I'm not lying!" Sokka said, frustrated. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Zuko should have sent someone a little more competent to come spy on me," She sighed.

"I'm not here to spy on you! I didn't even know you were here! And even if I was a spy? I'd be a perfectly competent one! " Sokka exclaimed, defending himself. She ignored his statement. She knew better.

"Do you even know what competent means, peasant?" Azula crossed her arms.

"Look who's calling who a peasant," Sokka said quietly, under his breath. Azula heard him and huffed, insulted.

"Are you insinuating that I'm on the same level as _you_?" She snapped.

"Well, you're obviously not a princess anymore," Sokka shot back, almost immediately regretting his words.

"What a brilliant observation! You deserve an award!" Azula said with sarcasm, "Now if you excuse me, I need to be going home. You're more than welcome to follow me so you can spy on me some more. See just how much trouble I've been getting myself into." She pushed past him, starting to weave through the mass of people. Sokka stared after her for a moment. He had figured out who that woman was, right? So it was in Sokka's best interest to just continue on with his original plan of going back to the inn and taking a nap, right?

Against his better judgment, Sokka started following her. It took him a minute before he caught up to her.

"Your sarcasm is greatly appreciated," Sokka replied with sarcasm of his own.

"Oh, really?" Azula glanced behind her shoulder as she walked, "I'm so glad you like it because your opinion matters so much to me."

Sokka wasn't too sure what he could say back to that.

"Well, my opinion should matter. It _is_ an important one," Sokka said finally as the two turned down a less populated street. Azula looked back at him, glaring again.

"You're even more pathetic than I remember," She said.

"You're more of a bitch than I remember."

"Here's a thought, maybe because I _am_," Azula rolled her eyes. Both fell silent. Sokka scratched the back of his neck. This was so awkward. No, this was _beyond_ awkward.

"So, what _have_ you been up to?" Sokka asked, trying to keep up with her brisk pace, "You know, when you're not being bitchy," He added. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Painting," Azula replied simply.

"Ah, yeah, that's right. I saw you by the fountain a few days ago painting something," Sokka said in an amused tone, more to himself than to her.

"You saw me in town a few days ago. Oh, you're _really_ helping your case with that whole 'not a spy' thing," Azula said, trying to hold back another eye roll.

"I didn't realize it was you!" Sokka exclaimed.

"You never were the brightest one on team Avatar, were you?" Azula questioned.

"Yes I was!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Sure, whatever," Azula brushed it off, "So what else do you want to know?"

"I don't know, anything?"

"I've been living here in Makung for the past five years because its close enough to Ba Sing Se that I can make a few trips a year there to sell my art to the ridiculously rich. I live here, on the outskirts of town because I like my privacy. Anything else you need to know to get Zuko off my case?" She questioned, very clearly irritated with this whole encounter. As she explained what she had been up to though, her voice was strangely monotone. Sokka hadn't even realized it, but they were now standing outside Azula's front door. She opened it and put one foot inside.

"No...I guess not," Sokka replied.

"Well then, this conversation has been simply _engaging_, but I have work to do. Good-bye," She said, stepping the rest of the way inside her home and then slamming the door in Sokka's face. He stood there looking slightly dumbfounded. His brain hadn't quite yet comprehended what had just happened. He was still kind of trying to process that Azula, crazy, psycho princess Azula, was here in this town. And not only that, but she was here in this town making a living like a normal person.

A normal person. Azula? That just didn't make sense. Even now, ten years since the last time Sokka had even seen her.

Once he had gathered his thoughts, at least a little bit, he started walking back into town. That nap he had been planning on taking was sounding really good.

The rest of Sokka's evening was rather uneventful. It had been mostly taken up by his nap and his thoughts about Azula. She wasn't supposed to intrigue him this much, but he wanted to know more. Not to mention he really wanted to see some of her finished paintings. He also wanted to tell Zuko that he had found her, but he had a sneaky suspicion that somehow Azula would find out about it and give him hell.

When Sokka went to bed that night, he kind of hoped he'd wake up the next morning and this whole thing with Azula would have just been a dream. That he would still have no idea who that mysterious woman was and that Azula would be the furthest thought from his mind.

That morning came. And that whole thing with Azula hadn't been a dream.

After lazily getting out of bed and washing up, Sokka suddenly realized he didn't have enough money to pay for the room for another night and feed himself. So he packed up his things and checked out of the inn. He could handle sleeping on the ground a lot better than he could handle going without food. In the marketplace, Sokka bought himself some breakfast and ate it as he walked towards the fountain. He sat down on the edge, licking his fingers, making sure not to leave one crumb behind.

"I saw it! I saw it again!" A middle aged man exclaimed, running into the center of town. People instantly cleared a path for him, quieted down and focused their attention. This, of course, gained Sokka's attention too.

"Saw what?" A woman asked.

"The blue light! Out by the rice fields!" He explained. The people whispered amongst themselves.

"I saw it too!" piped in a teenage boy," It was by the forest though!"

"Did ya try to get near it?" A man asked.

"Yeah, but it disappeared right away," the teenager responded. The townspeople continued to chatter about the light. Sokka focused on trying to understand what they were saying. He was concentrating so hard that it startled him when a familiar voice spoke to him in a condescending tone.

"And now you're just going to show up everywhere, aren't you?" Azula said bitterly with a sigh.

"Good morning to you too," Sokka said absently, turning his attention back to the ruckus about the light.

"What are you doing?" Azula asked, but Sokka ignored her question and asked her one of his own.

"What are they talking about?"

"A mysterious blue light," Azula sighed, "It shows up about twice a month, but its been showing up a lot more often for the past few. Its perfectly harmless."

"Have you ever seen it before?"

"No."

"It kinda sounds like spirit magic. Maybe I should tell Aang and he can come check it out..." Sokka trailed off.

"Whatever," Azula shrugged before turning and walking away from him.

"Wait!" Sokka exclaimed, bolting from his spot to catch up to her.

"What, did you forget to ask me something for your little report? And no, I am not planning a coup or anything else that could be considered illegal," She said, her tone slightly sardonic.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something, but it wasn't that," Sokka said.

"Oh really. I'm listening," She said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

"I wanted to ask if you'd let me see your paintings," Sokka told her. She raised an eyebrow skeptically and was trying her very hardest not to laugh. Why would an idiot like him want to look at fine art? Then again, he could be a potential buyer...

Against her better judgment, Azula agreed. Artists needed to eat too, after all.

"Great!" Sokka smiled.

"Hold on. Not this second. I'm not going to drop everything I have to do today so that you can take a look at my work. Meet me back here at noon," She said coldly. Her tone reminded him for a moment that this was the same person who had managed to take over Ba Sing Se and temporarily place Aang among the deceased. The fact that she hasn't tried to roast him yet made Sokka start to believe that maybe Aang had taken away her bending at some point. He also wasn't quite sure if he could trust her. She seemed honest enough in her new life but Sokka knew all too well of what Zuko always said about her..._Azula always lies, Azula always lies._

"Alright, that's fine," Sokka said awkwardly. She was gone before he had the opportunity to say anything else.

After getting something to eat for lunch, Sokka made his way back to the fountain. He wanted to make sure he was there on time. No matter how much Azula had seemed to change, Sokka didn't want to take his chances with angering her. He just had a feeling that tardiness was something she wouldn't tolerate.

And he was right. She showed up shortly after he did, a pleased smile on her face.

"You're early," She said. Sokka returned the grin.

"Early is on time, on time is late," Sokka explained nonchalantly. For a split second, Sokka could have sworn she looked impressed, but her superior attitude returned in an instant. Less than that.

"Very well, let's go then," She said. Sokka stood up and began following her. For the duration of the walk, neither spoke. Azula stayed completely focused on the road in front of her, barely even paying attention to Sokka. That, for some reason, made the Water Tribesman rather uneasy. He stayed close behind her the whole time though. He almost lost her a few times because of the ridiculous pace she walked at.

"Welcome to my humble abode," She said with a sigh as they reached her front door. She opened it and lead him inside. Azula's home was small, but it was obviously more than enough room for one person. Or Azula just didn't like clutter. Sokka had a feeling it was the latter. The walls, however, had paintings hung all over them. Flowers, animals, people, anything imaginable. He even spotted the couple she had been working on the other day. And they were beautiful, graceful. Her art had a very distinct style to it, obviously heavily influenced by her Fire Nation heritage.

"Wow," He breathed with awe, feeling really inadequate about his skills (could you even call them that?) with a brush, "These are amazing," Sokka said, spending time looking at each one. He glanced up, seeing her sweeping the floor. She wasn't paying attention to him at all again. "Azula?" He called her name. Her head snapped up to look at him. He wasn't sure if that look she was giving him was because she was irritated or if that was just how she always looked.

"What?" She asked, leaning on her broom and brushing some stray strands of hair from her face.

"Your paintings are pretty amazing," He said again.

"Oh. Well, thanks," She said, an air of arrogance in her voice. She went back to her sweeping.

"I always wished I could paint pretty pictures," Sokka said idly. When she didn't respond, Sokka turned around and looked at her again. She had moved on to dusting things off. That's also when he noticed that there was a leak in the roof. And a broken chair in the corner. She noticed that he was staring at it.

"I plan on using it for firewood, " She told him, but her words didn't really register to him. The wheels in his head were turning. Sokka rubbed his stubbly chin and grinned. He wasn't sure why, but he had a morbid curiosity, if you will, about her. It just didn't make sense. She _had_ to be up to something, didn't she? Sokka wanted to figure it out. And perhaps learn how to paint pretty pictures in the process.

"I could fix it for you," Sokka said. Azula's eyes widened.

"I don't need your help."

"I could fix the hole in your roof for you too and help you with anything else you need done around here," he offered.

"Are you saying my home is in bad shape?" She asked, insulted.

"Nonono," Sokka defended, "That's not what I meant at all."

"Then what _did_ you mean?"

"That I could help you out in exchange for painting lessons."

"Why would you want to know how to paint?" Azula snorted, finding the idea of Sokka and a paintbrush to be quite laughable.

"Its just something I always wanted to know how to do," Sokka shrugged, remembering the painting he did for Master Piandao all those years ago. Azula looked him up and down, thinking about his offer.

"Well, I suppose this is just a ploy for you to get closer to me so you can give Zuko a better report...So if I agree and put up with you and your idiocy for a few weeks that should please Zuko and keep the two of you out of my hair for a few more years...and you'd be helping me around the house," Azula reasoned out loud.

"I'll do just about anything you want, as long as I get a lesson," He smiled. Azula thought about it again for a long time, watching Sokka like a hawk.

"Be here at dawn tomorrow."

* * *

Oh snaps~

Reviews and stuff, plz!

~Miss Frerak


	4. chapter THREE

Bah. This took a long time to write because I'm a procrastinator, lol.

I'm sorry this chapter is kind of boring. (Aside from some arguing~) The next one has a lil' bit more entertainment value, I promise~3

* * *

"You're late," Azula said simply and cold as she pulled some laundry off the line, not even needing to turn around to know Sokka was behind her. Her senses were still as acute as ever.

"...Yeah, I kinda didn't even wake up at dawn," Sokka explained himself, not quite knowing what words to use. He was sure that if Azula was a vegetable, she would probably be fully steamed by now. It was probably closer to the afternoon than it was to morning.

"Obviously," She rolled her eyes, pulling the last sheet off the line and throwing it in her basket.

"So...uh...Let me help you?" He asked, taking a few steps towards her and leaning down to pick up the laundry basket. Azula quickly grabbed it herself and glared at him.

"I'm strong enough to carry it on my own," She said bitterly, pushing past him and going back in the house. Sokka sighed and followed behind her. Honestly, how could he be so stupid? Azula sat down in a chair and started meticulously folding things.

"So if you're going to go do that, what would you like me to do?" Sokka asked, trying to sound polite. He wasn't sure if it actually came out sounding so.

"What you offered to do," She said in a bored tone.

"You're really not one for conversation, are you?" Sokka questioned. She glanced up at him.

"No," She went back to her laundry. Silence.

"So, then I'll just be going to go get some supplies then..."Sokka said, trying to slink away. Azula stood up and walked briskly down the short hallway. When she came back, she headed towards Sokka. She held out a small coin pouch.

"What's this for?"

"Supplies. I don't need you to pay for them. I'm more than capable," She stated seriously.

"Okay..." Sokka swallowed hard. That look she was currently giving him was more than slightly unnerving. He took the pouch and quickly turned to leave.

Buying supplies didn't take Sokka very long. He only got the very bare minimum of what he thought he'd need. He didn't want to spend too much of Azula's money. Of course, the whole time he was shopping a voice was nagging him to spend all of it because 'Azula was evil and deserved some punishment' but Sokka's more rational side won out this time. He wanted to live, thank you very much.

Figuring that trying to start another conversation with Azula would be a completely futile effort, Sokka ignored her and headed straight for the broken chair in the corner. He started looking through the wood, trying to piece the chair back together. Trying to put together the puzzle took Sokka a little longer than he would have liked, but eventually, he figured out where each piece of wood was supposed to go and started hammering away.

Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, Sokka looked up and saw Azula dusting things off. She really liked to keep a clean home. Sokka watched her move around the house, paying attention to every minuscule detail. Sokka would never understand women and cleanliness. Seriously.

Suddenly, though, Azula stopped, setting her duster on a table. Her eyes glazed over a little bit and her mouth started moving. Sokka could faintly hear her voice, but none of it was actually understandable. She then headed straight for her painting supplies. Almost mechanically, she stretched out a piece of parchment and popped open a canister of paint. She grabbed a paint brush and started to quickly drag the brush across the parchment. Sokka couldn't see what she was painting from where he was, but he watched her anyway. She was so focused, as if nothing else around her existed except for the parchment and her paintbrush.

Sokka found this kind of odd. Not necessarily the fact that she was focused, Sokka always knew Azula was the stubborn type of woman who would set her mind on something and refuse to budge, but the randomness of her little session and the empty look she got in her eyes. He didn't really know her well enough to know if this was a common occurrence, so he shrugged it off and went back to pounding that chair back together.

By the time Sokka had finished fixing the chair, it was late afternoon. Azula was still working on that painting she had started. Sokka wasn't sure if he should interrupt her or not, so after he cleaned his things up (he kind of had a feeling in his gut that Azula would beat him to a pulp if he didn't) he quietly approached her. He watched her paint for a moment, trying to figure out what it was she was painting. It looked like the inside of a building, sort of.

"Azula?" He called her name softly. She didn't respond. "Azula?" Sokka called again, also lightly tapping her shoulder. She whipped around, startled. It was like she had been in a trance.

"What?" She growled. Sokka stepped back a few feet.

"I finished fixing the chair if you care to try it out...or something," Sokka said.

"I'm sure its fine," She replied, going back to her picture. She was really obsessed with painting, wasn't she? Yet another awkward silence fell between the two. This was becoming a pattern. Sokka scratched the back of his head.

"So...Now that I've helped you...Part of the deal was that you'd give me lessons on how to do that?" He motioned towards her painted parchment. She eyed him up and down a few times.

"You really weren't serious, were you?" She questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"I was serious," Sokka assured her.

"Very well," she sighed, "I'll give you a painting lesson. After I finish this." Sokka held back a groan. How much longer was she going to take?

"How long do you expect you'll be?" Sokka asked politely.

"I don't know," Azula said, her voice sharp, "An hour at most is my best guess," she added some small details to her piece. Sokka watched her work a bit before he responded.

"Then I guess...I'll go get something to eat then," He said, sneaking away from her.

"There's some fruits in the kitchen if you don't want to go all the way into town," Azula said absently. Sokka stopped in his tracks. That was quite possibly the nicest thing he had ever heard her say. She had just offered food to him. In a non-threatening manner.

"Uh...Thanks," Sokka replied as he continued to slink away. He went into the kitchen and grabbed an apple that was sitting in a large bowl. He tossed it up in the air a few times, catching it in his palm. He idly wondered if he'd ever get over the shock of seeing Azula living her life like a commoner. As he took a bite into the apple, he smirked. Maybe Azula secretly had a twin sister who was really actually good and the evil, bad Azula had died a long time ago and now the twin was around to cover it up. Or something.

Sokka was almost willing to believe anything at this point. He really was. Even though he knew it wasn't a dream, it still felt like one. It really did.

It didn't take Sokka long to finish off that apple. He was still a little hungry, but at least that took the edge off. He would have taken another one but he thought that might be rude. And no matter what, he still didn't want to take the chance of angering Azula in her own home. At least not without some backup anyway.

He went back into the room she was painting in. He glanced at her work. She had made considerable progress in the few minutes he had been gone. She also seemed to be entranced again. So instead of interrupting her, Sokka just pulled up a chair (the one he had fixed) and sat down near her. He figured that maybe if he watched her, he could pick up a few things before his little lesson began. Maybe it would impress her. Why he'd want to impress Azula, he had no idea, but hey. Nothing was making much sense anymore now was it?

Sokka rested his elbow on the arm rest and cradled his head in his hand. He started dozing off a little bit, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Then his stomach would grumble at him at snap him out of it. The last time Sokka drifted off, he honestly thought he'd actually catch a bit of shut eye.

But of course, that's when Azula decided she was done with her painting.

"I'm finished. Time for your lesson," She stated, staring Sokka down and standing above him with her arms crossed. It jolted him from his mini nap. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at her.

"Great!" Sokka exclaimed with child-like enthusiasm.

"You're really worked up about this, aren't you?" Azula continued to stare him down skeptically.

"Maybe," Sokka said after calming himself down. Azula sighed, rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath akin to 'Water Tribe idiot'. She set her painting aside to dry and grabbed a new piece of parchment and set it up for Sokka. She pulled the newly fixed chair out in front of the table and sat down, crossing her legs.

"Very well. Show me what you can do. Paint me," Azula demanded. Sokka sat down at the table, trying to hide his nervousness. This shouldn't have been so nerve-wrecking, but it was. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and picked up one of the many bamboo paintbrushes. Azula just continued to stare at him, waiting.

"Alright...Here goes nothing...But I'm warning you, this isn't going to be very good," Sokka said. She didn't reply. He took a deep breath and dipped the brush in the paint and swirled it around a little.

Eventually, after a few more minutes of mental preparation, Sokka finally pressed the brush down to the parchment and made one long brushstroke. And another, and another until it started kinda sorta resembling a person. He started adding little bits of color to it. All the while, Azula sat perfectly still. Sokka could barely even tell she was breathing.

"Okay. I'm done," Sokka said proudly. He dropped the paintbrush in the jar full of water. Azula stood and walked over to him, her movements very cat-like. Her eyes fell on Sokka's painting. When she said nothing, Sokka gulped.

"What is this?" She questioned.

"A painting? Of you?" Sokka answered, hoping that's what he was supposed to say. He was...

"Wrong," Azula replied, "This is an atrocious mess. If this is really how you perceive the female form then you're even more of an insult to humanity than I originally thought."

"I told you it wasn't going to be very good!" Sokka protested, "That's why I need lessons!"

"Can you even write your name legibly?" Azula asked.

"Yes! I can!" Sokka declared, now feeling more than a little insulted. He grabbed the paintbrush again and promptly wrote his name in a blank space on the parchment.

"Hmph. That's barely legible."

"It is perfectly legible!" Sokka said.

"If I didn't already know what your name was I wouldn't be able to tell what that is."

"Then you can't read!"

"I can't read? Then I suppose I wasted ten years of my life attending the Royal Fire Academy," Azula said with sarcasm.

"Maybe you did," Sokka smiled at her. She glared. Sokka got that feeling in the pit of his stomach that his life might just be in imminent danger.

"Do you want a painting lesson or not?" Azula asked after taking a few deep breaths.

"Yes, I do," Sokka said, looking back down at his parchment. He made a mental note to learn how to watch what he said while he was around her. She seemed harmless now but until he was certain...

"Then let us really begin," She stated, picking up a paintbrush of her own to use.

Sokka's first painting lesson lasted about two and a half hours. He found it to be quite the miracle that his attention span had managed to last that long. The whole time he could tell Azula was struggling with being patient but she managed. They went through very basic things, Sokka mimicking everything Azula showed him, or at least trying to. On more than one occasion he had to try again. And again. And again, before he actually got it right. By the end of the night, Sokka knew he had made some improvement already. Or at least he thought he did. With the way Azula acted though, he wasn't so sure. At least he felt like he had improved right? That's what really mattered.

Once they had finished and Sokka stood up, he felt like he could just fall over and fall asleep right there. Who knew painting could be so exhausting?

"So...I'll see you again tomorrow?" Sokka asked awkwardly trying to hold back a yawn.

"I suppose," Azula sighed, cleaning up after their lesson. She looked up at him, her gold eyes piercing right through him, "Don't be late again."

"I won't be," Sokka assured her with a smile, "Good night."

"Hmph," Was her only response as he left her home.

Once Sokka knew he was far enough away from her house, he gave a great big sigh of relief. He had just spent the last ten (probably even more) hours with Azula. And aside from his slightly bruised ego, he had emerged unscathed. Which was a good thing. A very, very good thing. It was starting to settle in his mind that he was going back tomorrow too. As he walked, he couldn't help but smile at that thought. Ten years ago he wouldn't have even thought about spending one day with Azula let alone two. And possibly more. It was still a somewhat foreign concept that his brain was still having some issues wrapping around, but the more he thought about it, the more he got used to it. It wasn't like she was bad company. Truth be told, Sokka actually kind of enjoyed arguing with her. There was a certain thrill to it. He knew that at any given moment some particular comment could send her into a frenzy or something equally potentially dangerous.

Realizing at that moment that he had nowhere to stay for the night, Sokka started heading towards the forest. He was dead tired but he didn't want to fall asleep in some random field out in the open. The forest wasn't even that far outside of town anyway. About half an hour by foot at most.

After finding a nice, soft patch of forest floor to crash on, Sokka laid out his sleeping bag and crawled right in. He didn't even bother with making himself a fire. It was warm enough outside that he didn't need one. He didn't even acknowledge the fact that his stomach was grumbling. His need for sleep was ultimately winning over his need for food. His eyes slipped shut almost immediately.

He didn't know how long it had been, he had no idea what time it was, but something woke him up. A sudden bright light shined over him. Sokka cracked his eyes open. He rubbed them hoping that would help them focus faster. But even unfocused, he realized what he was seeing.

Not far from where he was there was that blue light moving through the trees. It moved erratically, disappearing in one spot, reappearing in another. Moving in one direction and then moving in the opposite. It was...kind of pretty actually. And it did seem pretty harmless.

Sokka sat up to watch it more, trying to figure out what it was. But even his scientific mind could only conclude that it must be some sort of spirit magic. It resembled blue fire in color, but Sokka knew it couldn't be. Fire with that intense shade of blue didn't burn naturally. And to the best of his knowledge, fire didn't magically disappear and reappear without a firebender. And there was only one person in the universe who could bend blue fire. And what in the world would she be doing out in the forest in the middle of the night? And that was only if she even still had her firebending, which Sokka was seriously doubting. He could have sworn he saw spark rocks at her house earlier, what would a master firebender need spark rocks for?

So the only logical conclusion was that it was spooky spirit magic. Or maybe a clever hoax...

"Hello?" Sokka called out into the night as loud as his groggy voice could muster.

The light came to a halt. And then it disappeared.

* * *

Ohoho~ The plot thickens~

REVIEWS, PLZKTHXMAYBE?


	5. chapter FOUR

A/N: My apologies for taking forever again~

But this chapter is totally worth it, I promise.

And its totally long. 4,177 words!

* * *

By some strange miracle, Sokka actually managed to wake up before dawn. Ecstatic that he actually had some extra time before he had to be at Azula's, he hurried to pick up his things and get into town. He managed to grab a bite to eat and down it in less than ten minutes. Which still left him with plenty of time. So since he hadn't had a chance to yesterday, Sokka decided to check if he had any letters and write one for Aang concerning that blue light.

Sure enough, there was a letter for him from Katara. She missed him, of course. And she said she was missing Aang as well since he was off doing Avatar things. She was very much enjoying her time home at the South Pole otherwise, though. Sokka was glad to hear that. There really wasn't anything else that was particularly noteworthy, but Sokka enjoyed hearing from Katara anyway. It was always nice to know she was alright. He always cracked a smile when he reached the end of her letters. Her motherly nature always showed through when she'd ask him a slew of questions concerning his health, what he was eating and if he had enough clothes.

He replied to her letter, being particularly mindful of his writing. After Azula's comments the previous day, Sokka wondered if his writing really was as bad as she said. He also wondered if he should include anything in his letter to Katara about Azula. He wasn't sure how Katara would react to it but if he wrote a letter to Aang mentioning Azula, then Katara would more than likely find out about it and be angry that Sokka didn't tell her too. Unless he just told Aang not to tell her and to burn the letter as soon as he got it...That sounded like a plan. So Sokka finished up his letter to Katara, neglecting to say anything about Azula. Then he started writing the letter for Aang about the light. Even though he thought out his words carefully, his neater writing style was starting to slip back into a mess. Eventually though, he got the letter written (making sure he emphasized that whole 'burn before Katara can see' thing) and sent off as well.

...Unfortunately, Sokka's little letter writing escapade took a little longer than he had thought it did. The sun was already high up in the sky. Meaning it was well past dawn.

"...Well, damn," Sokka sighed to himself before breaking off into a sprint. He thought that maybe if he ran as fast as he could and Azula saw how hard he had at least tried to get there on time that she might not be as angry. Not that he really cared if Azula was that mad at him or anything. She was just still a little scary. And intimidating. Sokka didn't care how many years had passed between them. She was still Princess Azula in there. And that was terrifying.

When he actually made it to Azula's, Sokka stopped outside her front door and took a few seconds to catch his breath. He had only stopped a few times the whole run over there. He gulped, hoped for the best and knocked on her door. Quickly, Azula answered it. She opened the door and grimaced at who was on the other side.

"You're late. Again," She stated.

"I know and I'm really sorry. I was up before dawn but then I got caught up writing a letter to my sister. And to Aang," Sokka explained, hoping she'd understand.

"Oh, I see. You didn't want to leave out any details, did you?" She questioned, narrowing her eyes as she spoke to him. Sokka stared down at her, perplexed.

"...What do you mean by that?"

"Don't be dense. You know what I mean," Azula said.

"...Is this about that whole you think I'm a spy thing?"

"Precisely."

"And how many times do I have to tell you I'm not a spy?" Sokka gave an exasperated sigh.

"And how many times do I have to tell you that I don't believe you?" Azula shot back.

"About a million more, I'd say," Sokka grinned. She rolled her eyes and held out a pouch full of money, handing it to Sokka.

"Go get supplies and then go fix my roof," She ordered, "Before I decide to call this little deal we have off." Azula turned around and slammed the door behind her. Sokka stood there, his mouth slightly agape. Why was she so cranky today? At least it was still morning by the time he got there this time! With a quiet groan Sokka started dragging his feet back into town. He was absolutely in no hurry to get back to Azula's, nope.

Sokka was glad it took longer than expected to gather up all the things he'd need to fix the roof. By the time he did make it back to Azula's, it was around noon. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. He guessed it probably wasn't. She'd probably get mad that it took him so long to track down the supplies. Before he climbed up on the roof, Sokka decided to check around the premises for Azula. Maybe if she was entranced in painting or something he could sneak up there before she could notice he was back. She wasn't in the front. And she wasn't in the house. So she had to be out back doing laundry or something. (Honestly, how much laundry did that woman have to do? Did she only wear something once before she felt the need to wash it?)

So Sokka leaned the ladder on the side of the house and started carrying his supplies up there. On just about his last trip up, he nearly dropped everything because a certain cranky (former?) Fire Nation princess decided she would startle him. Okay, so she probably didn't intend to startle him, but startle him she did.

"Took you long enough," Azula snorted. After being surprised, Sokka scrambled as best he could to regain his balance and avoid dropping anything. He finished climbing up the rest of the way before he replied to her statement.

"Not my fault I had to go all over town to find the right stuff," He said, not even looking down at her. He thought it might be best to avoid any eye contact with her right now. He wouldn't put it past Azula to have crazy eye powers where she could kill him just by looking at him.

"Right. I think you were just procrastinating because you assumed that I'm not in a very good mood today," Azula explained. That got Sokka's attention. How the heck could she have known that!? He slowly moved to the edge of the roof to look down and see her.

"I never said that!" Sokka protested. Azula just glared up at him. There was a pause.

"I assure you, _Sokka_, that I am in no worse a mood than I was yesterday," And at that she turned and walked away. Sokka watched her. She went and sat down in a flowerbed. She started pulling weeds and tending to the flowers. That wasn't exactly the kind of activity Sokka thought she'd be doing but hey, Sokka never expected her to be in the Earth Kingdom and painting for a living either. Sokka was starting to think she was just an extremely obsessive perfectionist. Well, from what he heard from Zuko it was probably safe to assume that she was an extremely obsessive perfectionist. Zuko had always pegged that whole obsessive thing as a 'family trait'.

Even though it took him a while to get started, Sokka began steadily working on the roof. After he fixed the leak he found some other spots that were starting to get weak. He patched some of those up too. When he came to a particularly large spot Sokka found he needed a few more nails. Which were just out of arm's reach. Deciding to go for it, Sokka reached forward to grab one. He got one, but he needed more than that, of course. So he tried to reach farther.

...Which evidently proved to not be a very good idea.

He reached out a little too far and ended up losing his balance. Sokka fell right off the roof. Thankfully, it wasn't that far of a fall. He yelped in pain as he landed in the grass. The commotion, of course, got Azula's attention. She looked up from the flowers and just stared at him as he tried to regain his bearings. She smiled. And then she laughed.

"Its not funny! I could have really got-" Sokka started, rolling over on the ground so he could see her. When she came into view a confused look spread over Sokka's face, "Wait. You're laughing."

"You fell off the roof," Azula said between chuckles.

"Yeah? And you're laughing. I...I didn't think you were capable!" Sokka declared as her laughing fit subsided and her smile faded away. Her eyes narrowed, focused on him.

"Get back to work," she ordered him suddenly. Sokka slowly stood up, making sure he really wasn't injured.

"You're not even going to ask me if I'm alright?" He questioned, sounding almost offended.

"Get back to work," Azula repeated, gathering her gardening supplies and standing up. She brushed the dirt from her clothes and walked away. Sokka grumbled to himself. Really! How could a person possibly be that cranky all the time? And like, two seconds ago she had been laughing!

Azula had to be the weirdest, most confusing and irritating person on the planet.

So just like she had ordered, Sokka went back to work. And he was much more careful this time. It didn't take him that long to finish up, there hadn't been that much left to do. Tired and starting to feel that fall, Sokka lazily cleaned up. His stomach was growling up something fierce too, which was never a good thing. He decided to find Azula so he could tell her that he was going to leave and get something to eat before they had their second painting lesson.

He found her in the back, feeding her ostrich horse and humming something to herself. It was a Fire Nation melody, that much Sokka recognized, but he didn't know much else.

"Uh, well, I finished working on the roof," Sokka started, his loud, grumbling stomach interrupting his sentence,"So I'm going to into town and grab something to eat before my lesson. Is that okay?" Sokka asked her awkwardly. She glanced up at him, still humming her song. She fed the animal a little more, still not replying to Sokka's question.

"...Azula?" Sokka called her name, trying to get her attention. She hummed the last note of her song before she answered.

"What?" She barked.

"I wanted to know if it was okay if I went into town to grab something to eat before our lesson...?" Sokka asked again.

"If you can wait five minutes I can make dinner for the both of us," Azula said in monotone, wiping her hands on her dirty dress and leaning against the fence. She watched the ostrich horse chow down on its feed, almost pretending that Sokka wasn't there.

"That sounds pretty good, actually," Sokka smiled, leaning on the fence a few feet away from her. He didn't know what to be more surprised at. The fact Azula had just offered him dinner or the thought that Azula could actually cook edible food. Though he supposed she had to be able to cook just a little bit, otherwise she'd spend a fortune eating out every night...

Azula walked away to grab a bucket of water. She came back and poured it in the ostrich horse's large dish. Sokka watched her, only because there wasn't really anything better to do.

"So...does it have a name?" He asked awkwardly. Azula paused to give Sokka a questioning look.

"The ostrich horse? No, she doesn't have a name. She doesn't need one," Azula answered.

"Of course she needs a name!" Sokka exclaimed, walking over to the ostrich horse and patting her back affectionately. "How about....Chow-Chow? No... Chow--ka-Pow? Naw... Wait! I've got it! Miss Beaky," Sokka declared, "Your new name is Miss Beaky!" He gave the animal a lopsided hug. She grunted and whipped her head around, pecking Sokka lightly on the shoulder. Azula just rolled her eyes and gave Sokka that classic 'I can't believe you're that retarded' look.

"Let's go inside. It looks like its going to rain," Azula said, pointing up at the sky which was growing a dark, dingy gray color.

"Yeah," Sokka agreed, following behind her, "Your...flowers look nice," He complimented. Azula didn't respond. But she visibly cringed as they both heard some rolling thunder. She picked up the pace then, practically running back into the house. Sokka followed, wondering why she had that reaction to the thunder. She couldn't possibly be scared of it!

Sokka shut the door behind him and leaned against the counter in the kitchen. Azula threw some wood in the oven and then opened up a cabinet, grabbing her spark rocks. With one swipe she lit the wood on fire and then poured water and some noodles in a pot. Sokka cocked his head to the side as he watched her. So either she was trying to hide her firebending or it had been taken away. Why would she feel the need to hide her firebending in front of him, though? Sokka knew, quite well, mind you, what Azula was capable of. Instead of continuing on with his theories, Sokka decided to ask her if she still had her bending. Sort of.

"What does a firebender need spark rocks for?" He questioned nonchalantly. Azula slammed her pan of water and noodles on top of the stove. Loudly. Sokka shrunk back against the counter a little. Azula stiffened, clenching her fists tightly.

"A firebender needs spark rocks when she isn't a firebender anymore," Azula growled through gritted teeth. Well, there was his answer. Aang did take her bending away. And obviously, she still wasn't very happy about it. Sokka couldn't believe he didn't remember that though...He made a quick mental note to pay more attention to what Aang did.

"I...uh...I'm sorry," Sokka apologized immediately. He felt a little guilty, and a little sorry for her. Maybe he shouldn't have been so blunt about it...

"No, you're not," Azula said under her breath. Sokka wasn't certain if she was completely right or not. He turned his gaze towards the floor to avoid a confrontation. And what seemed to be a common occurrence while he was in her presence, Sokka was at a loss for words. Azula didn't speak either, she just concentrated on her cooking.

A bright flash of lightning lit everything up for a split second. Moments later, a roar of thunder rattled through the house. Then came the loud pitter-patter of the rain. It may have filled the silence, but it was still too quiet for Sokka's tastes. He wanted to know if she was angry with him now or something. Not that he really cared if Azula was angry with him or anything...But it would still be nice if he stayed off her 'epic hate' list. Even if she was without her firebending, Sokka had a feeling she'd find other means of torturing him. The rain started getting a little louder.

"Listen to that rain," Sokka said out of the blue, smiling, "Its...a really good thing I fixed the roof today, isn't it?"

"Its wonderful," Azula replied as she finished making their dinner. There was just a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Sokka was starting to think she was the only person in the world who could actually compete with him in the sarcasm department. Sokka had to guess that eighty percent of what she said had a degrading, sarcastic tone to it.

She poured some of the lo mein onto a plate and handed it off to Sokka, along with a pair of chopsticks. Azula then helped herself to a portion of it and went to set it down at the dining room table. She got both of them a cup of water to drink before she sat down to eat her meal. As hungry as Sokka was, he waited until Azula started eating to start eating himself. Even though she was sitting across from him she didn't look up at him, nor did she speak to him. The silence, aside from the heavy rain, was starting to get maddening to the Water Tribesman.

Sokka was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the meal. He really had expected something a lot worse than this. The only real complaint he had was there were too many vegetables and not enough meat. He didn't dare voice the complaint though. He felt like he was walking on thin ice as it was. He didn't want to pour boiling water over it too. To break the monotony of the quiet, Sokka decided to compliment her for her culinary skills.

"This is pretty good," Sokka said, "Thank you."

"Mhm," Was the only response he got out of her.

Neither said another word for the duration of the meal.

Azula finished eating before him. Sokka was honestly surprised that she had managed to be quicker than him. She practically bolted from her seat and launched herself into yet another cleaning frenzy, making sure the kitchen was spotless before she scurried off to set up for Sokka's painting lesson. Sokka ignored her until he was done eating himself. He was starting to realize it was best not to bother her unless he had to. He cleaned up after himself, went to take a leak and then joined Azula.

"I thought you'd never finish eating," Azula said, her tone slightly annoyed.

"I like to enjoy my food, thank you very much," Sokka replied sitting down across from her again.

"Very well, let's get started then, shall we?" Azula said, popping open a few canisters of paint, setting a few brushes out for him and then getting two pieces of parchment ready for each of them.

"Mhm, let's," Sokka agreed with a smile. Azula got up to get something and Sokka looked after her quizzically. She came back with a vase full of flowers. Sokka hadn't even noticed she had brought them inside. She placed them in a spot where both of them could see them clearly.

"Paint the flowers," she ordered, "It might help if you sketch them first. Lightly," she added, pushing a piece of lead over to his side of the table. Sokka picked it up and examined it.

"Okay..." He trailed off. He started sketching the flowers. Azula grabbed a paint brush and immediately started painting them. Even though she was concentrating on her painting, she could tell Sokka was doing something wrong.

"I said lightly. Sketch lightly," She corrected sternly. Sokka sighed and tried to not put as much pressure on it.

"But then I can't see it!" He protested.

"Then not only are you a moron, you must be blind too," Azula said, continuing to paint the flowers. Sokka looked up from his sketch to glare at her. He didn't even think she noticed.

It didn't take Sokka much longer to finish sketching the flowers and the vase they were in. When he was done, he showed it to Azula for her input.

"Everything is lopsided," She said, "Flowers are supposed to be nearly symmetrical." Azula got up and went around to his side of the table. She plucked the lead from between his fingers and started fixing a few of the flowers as well as part of the vase. "You can fix the rest," She said, handing the lead back to him.

He fixed everything to the best of his ability and asked Azula for her input again. This time she approved.

"You can start painting over it then. Its much better than yesterday, at least."

Sokka took her words as a compliment. He smiled to himself, picking up a thin brush and dipping it in the paint. He made a few lines on the parchment but Azula was quick to critique him.

"You're thinking about your lines too much. Its making them jagged. You want them to be smooth and graceful. Like this," She motioned towards her painting, which was absolutely beautiful to Sokka. The colors blended together perfectly, everything flowed together and it was just...well, gorgeous. He sighed. He'd never be able to paint like she did.

"Alright, I'll try..."

Sokka tried to think a little less about what he was doing and be more graceful. It must have been working because Azula said something about it.

"That's good," There was a slight hint of surprise in her voice, "You're a pretty fast learner." Sokka cracked a smile.

"I'm just awesome like that," He said, paying more attention to his painting than to her. He didn't notice that she rolled her eyes at his statement.

Before long, Sokka finished his painting. Every so often Azula would correct him or offer advice, but for the most part she stayed quiet. Sokka had a feeling it was because she was too involved with her own painting. Sokka would look up to watch her to see how she did things. He'd ask her a question here and there. She'd answer him. Or tell him how stupid it was that he even asked.

Azula set her and Sokka's paintings side by side on the table. Sokka bit his lip, realizing that his looked like absolute crap compared to hers. He could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to say something and was struggling to hold it in. She wanted to tell him how awful it was, he just knew it. But she didn't.

"Good job, you can actually tell they're flowers," Azula said. Sokka's sarcasm sensors picked up the tone instantly.

"Thanks," Sokka replied anyway. He was (kind of) proud of himself, at least. And as always, that's what mattered, right? Right.

Azula floated over towards a window. She rested her hands on the windowsill and watched the rain. Sokka left for a moment to go wash his hands off and when he returned she was still standing there. Another flash of lightning lit up the house. She visibly flinched again. With the new, official knowledge that she didn't have her bending anymore, Sokka thought that watching the lightning must have been painful for her. If Azula actually you know, felt pain.

Sokka felt extremely uncomfortable watching her watch the thunderstorm so he got his things and slung them over his shoulder.

"I'm going to go now...See you tomorrow...?" He questioned, standing right by the door, his hand on the handle. It took her a few seconds to respond.

"Where have you been sleeping the past few nights?" She asked out of the blue, her voice calm.

"...Out in the woods...why?" Sokka raised an eyebrow. Why would she care where he slept? She grumbled something under her breath.

"No wonder you've been late," She said, irritated with his response.

"But I was up at the right time this morning," Sokka protested, "I just got sidetracked writing letters today."

Azula grew quiet again, focusing her attention on the thunderstorm again. The rain was falling down in sheets, the road practically looked like a river. Another big bolt of blueish lightning raced across the sky. The accompanying thunder growled seconds after wards. Azula gave a small, barely noticeable sigh. It was so small that Sokka wouldn't have picked up on it if he hadn't been staring at her again, waiting for a response.

"You should stay here for the night," She just barely glanced in Sokka's direction, "That way I can wake you up when I do and you won't be late."

"That's alright," Sokka said, smiling, "I can really just sleep out in the woods."

"Your tardiness annoys me," Azula stated.

"And there's plenty of things that you do that annoy me but I keep my mouth shut," Sokka shot right back at her. She turned to glare at him. It was that 'If you were within arm's length of me I'd show you a world of hurt' glare.

"You're staying here and that's final," Azula said sternly, leaving her post at the window and heading towards her bedroom. She came back with a spare pillow and blanket. She shoved both into Sokka's arms, "Good night," She said, thought it wasn't really sincere at all.

"Night," Sokka replied, looking rather confused as she stormed off back to her bedroom.

Sokka comfortably made camp on the floor that night. But as he fell asleep, he wondered if she really was just irritated with his tardiness or if she just didn't want to force him to sleep out in the rain.

* * *

So~ Make of that ending what you will. I'm not telling~

COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, REVIEWS, TOPHGOD, ETC., ETC. DON'T YOU ALL KNOW THE ROUTINE BY NOW? JEEZE.

~Miss Frerak


	6. chapter FIVE

A/N: Just to make sure I don't confuse anyone, even though I think I made it pretty clear in the story, this chapter takes place a few weeks after the previous one. =)

* * *

_Aang,_

_I know I haven't gotten a letter from you from last time yet, but this is kind of important. Sort of, I guess. I'll try to keep this short because I have somewhere I need to be really soon._

_I'm still in Makung, that town not far from Ba Sing Se, just so you know, and I've found someone I didn't think I'd ever see again. Brace yourself for this one, Aang._

_I found Azula living in Makung, making a humble living as an artist. (And I must say, she's really, really good at it.) I don't think she's up to anything sinister. She seems to want to keep to herself most of the time. But don't tell Katara about it. Or Zuko for that matter. Burn this letter as soon as you're done reading it or something. I don't know how they'd react to it. I don't think it'd be the best thing if they were needlessly harassing her. I'll keep an eye on her to make sure she's not up to anything horrible and I'll keep you posted. But she's not the whole reason I'm writing this._

_The reason I'm writing this is because Makung seems to have a little spirit world action going on. Every few nights or so a mysterious, glowing blue light floats through the nearby forest. Last night I actually witnessed it. It disappears and reappears without a trace, moves strangely and is pretty much just a strange occurrence I guess. I thought it kind of looked like blue fire but the only person that could be connected to would be Azula. And she hasn't used herfirebending once since I've seen her. The light doesn't seem to want to hurt anyone or anything and it isn't causing any trouble except for freaking out the locals a little. But do you think you could come check it out and possibly put the mystery to rest? You don't have to make it a top priority, I know you're busy with Avatar stuff._

_Well, I need to get going. Don't tell Katara about Azula!_

_Sokka_

_(You should burn this letter now.)_

---

Aang smiled as he read his newest letter from Sokka. It was so nice to see Sokka's sense of humor was back, for the most part at least. The young Avatar had to re-read the letter before he fully comprehended what Sokka was saying, though. He found Azula. And she seemingly wasn't up to anything. Aang found this to be surprising. Extremely so. But Aang was also glad to hear that she was doing well. He had been reluctant about Zuko allowing her to be released in the Earth Kingdom but Aang was a firm believer in giving people second chances.

He recalled all of the things that were currently on his Avatar agenda. He didn't have anything planned anywhere near Ba Sing Se at the moment, but it never hurt to just visit. The young Avatar figured he could fit a stop in Makung in his schedule. Eventually. Since it wasn't an urgent thing, Aang stuck it on the bottom of his to-do list. He estimated he'd get that far in about...a month or so. Maybe more, maybe less.

He started writing a reply to Sokka's letter telling Sokka when he could expect a visit from the Avatar. Aang also warned Sokka about Azula, telling him to be careful and to not get himself into more than he could handle. Once he was done writing, he promptly burned the letter Sokka sent before he forgot to, just like his Water Tribe friend had instructed. Even if Katara wasn't around, it was better to carry out the request while it was still fresh in his mind, lest he forget later and have Katara find out somewhere down the road.

Once the response was dry, Aang rolled it up and sent it off with a messenger hawk.

"You take that to Sokka in Makung extra speedy, alright?" Aang encouraged the bird, feeding it a small snack and stroking its feathered back. It nuzzled Aang's hand before it turned and spread its wings, promptly flying away.

**p a i n t**

"I really think I could have done better on this," Sokka sighed, setting his bamboo brush back down on the table. He crossed his arms and leaned back to get a better look at his painting of Azula. She sat before him, her legs crossed. She rolled her eyes.

"Stop being so hard on yourself. Its annoying," Azula told him, uncrossing her legs and standing up. She straightened her dress and flipped a few stray hairs from her face. She dug out a few of Sokka's paintings, all of them of her. Sokka painted a picture of Azula every week in the same exact pose. It was mostly to show how much Sokka had improved and to help point out what he still needed to work on.

She laid them out on the table, side by side and in chronological order of when they had been painted. She pointed at the very first one he had done, the one that looked like a blob barely resembling a human being.

"This is what you were capable of four weeks ago," She said. She moved her hand to today's painting, "This is what you're capable of now. I think even _you_ can see the improvement you've made in a month." A smile slowly appeared on Sokka's lips as his eyes jumped between each of his paintings.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I have improved a lot. These paintings are starting to actually look like you," Sokka said, his smile nearly ear to ear.

"My head isn't shaped like a cabbage."

"Hey, I didn't say they look exactly like you. I said they're starting to look like you. There's a difference."

"Not a big one," Azula snorted with a small smirk. Sokka childishly stuck his tongue out at her. Azula rolled her eyes again. Sokka yawned and stood up, stretching. He had been working on that painting for a long time, he was feeling a little stiff.

"Well, I think I'm going to go into town for some lunch. You want to come?" Sokka asked her. Since he wasn't helping Azula with things around the house constantly anymore, Sokka now had the time to find odd jobs around town and make some money for himself.

"No. I have something I need to work on," She replied. Sokka shrugged.

"Suit yourself," He said before leaving.

Sokka ended up sitting down for lunch at a tiny little place. He heard they had pretty good food there. He ordered the lo mein. While it was pretty tasty, he was slightly disappointed. It wasn't quite as good as Azula's.

Wait, what?

That was right, Sokka actually had a preference for Azula's cooking. As strange...weird and totally nonsensical as it was.

After lunch he decided to do a little shopping. Shopping _always_ put the warrior in a great mood. He didn't find anything he particularly needed or wanted, but it was still a good way to kill a little time before he went back up by Azula's. He was supposed to go down to the river and help her with laundry today.

Before too long though, Sokka started heading back towards her place. Azula would know that he was procrastinating if he stayed away for much longer. And over the last month Sokka had learned that procrastinating was not a very good thing to do around Azula. It usually irritated her. And an irritated Azula was never fun to deal with.

Not even bothering to knock, Sokka went inside the house. He saw Azula sitting at the table, entranced in her latest painting. He also...heard her.

She was...singing.

_"An extraordinary beauty from the North, the most beautiful being in the world..."_

Sokka recognized the melody. That was the song she was always humming.

_"From her first glance, the city bows before her, from her second the empire falls to ruins..."_

He watched her intently, listening to the words even if her voice was very quiet. He took a few small steps farther into the room.

_"And there isn't a city or empire we can admire more than her..."_

Sokka swallowed hard, not knowing what to do at that point. He took another step forward. The floorboard creaked. That immediately got Azula's attention. Her head snapped up from her painting and her eyes narrowed into a glare. Aimed at Sokka, of course.

"How long have you been standing there?" She demanded. Sokka fidgeted a little, searching his brain for a proper response.

"Uh...long enough to know you were singing about yourself?" He had a feeling _that_ was not one. Her glare strengthened. Now it was one of the 'sending daggers through your skull with my eyes' variety. Those were never good.

"That's ridiculous," Azula insisted, setting her brush in the vial of water and crossing her arms. She raised an eyebrow, awaiting his inevitable bad comeback.

"Come on! It was totally obvious! You used to crush empires! And you... you, uhm..."

"I'm beautiful?" Azula smirked. She could already tell this was going to be hilarious.

"I never said that!" Sokka protested.

"So I'm not beautiful?"

"...I never said that either! I just said I thought you were singing about yourself because that song was uh...fitting," Sokka explained. Azula gave a small chuckle. He just made it way too easy.

"Its a traditional Fire Nation lullaby. A folk song. Written centuries before I was even born," Azula explained, rolling her eyes. She picked her brush back up and went back to painting. Sokka sighed and crossed the rest of the room and hovered over her, watching her paint. It was a landscape. From what Sokka could tell so far, it kind of looked like the Fire Nation. With the palm trees, the dark sand and the bright teal colored water.

"So, where is that?" He asked, pointing at her painting.

"Nowhere, but I'm basing it off what I can remember of Ember Island," Azula explained.

"Why Ember Island?"

"Client asked for tropical landscape. Do you see a tropical landscape anywhere near Makung?"

"No, not really."

"My point exactly."

"Well, its very pretty," Sokka complimented it with a smile. Azula looked at him over her shoulder, eyebrow raised.

"You say that about all my paintings," She stated, turning back to her landscape.

"Well, what else am I supposed to say? That they're horrible abominations and deserve to be burned?" Sokka questioned sarcastically.

"You could find a word other than 'pretty'," Azula suggested.

"Alright. Your paintings are very _pulchritudinous_," Sokka said, grinning ear to ear. Azula rolled her eyes and groaned. Sokka was just proud of himself for coming up with such a big and appropriate word so quickly. Her lack of response lead him to believe he had just won that little...whatever you wanted to call it.

"Don't you have something better to be doing?" Azula asked quietly, most of her attention focused on her painting. Sokka ignored her inquiry.

"You know. I'd like to see you paint the lights," He said nonchalantly.

"...What?"

"Back home, at the South Pole. They're kind of hard to explain, actually. They kind of look like a fire in the sky, but one that moves in slow motion and according to Water Tribe legend, they are a fire. I guess our ancestors light them every year to guide us home...Something like that. Not that I believe any of that or anything. I'm too smart. But it doesn't change the fact that they're really beautiful. And I think it'd be interesting to see your rendition of them," Sokka explained.

"That's absolutely fascinating," Azula said dryly.

"You weren't paying attention to a word I just said, were you?"

"Why bother? You said it."

"That's not very nice," Sokka pouted.

"...And?" Azula asked. Sokka just sighed, brushing it off. Not many knew this but, Azula did, in fact, have a sense of humor. He continued to stand behind her, watching her paint. He loved to watch her. It was usually a great learning experience. Painting just came so...naturally to her. Like she didn't even have to think about it. Watching her was also just another way Sokka loved to mildly irritate her. It was always interesting to see how long she'd put up with it before she'd shoo him away.

Out of the blue, she started mumbling to herself. Azula abruptly set the brush she was holding back down on the table. Her hands clenched into fists. For the most part, Sokka couldn't understand her.

"Azula?" He called her name, hoping to get her attention. It didn't work. Her nonsensical ramblings just grew a little louder. Sokka could pick out a few words, but he still couldn't make sense of anything she was saying, "Azula?" He called again. She stood up, rubbing her temples.

"...There is no...in...no..." Azula said rather clearly. She grunted, holding her head and shaking it a few times before she froze where she stood. And then collapsed. Reacting immediately, Sokka caught her, his arms wrapping around her middle. She felt so small in his arms, Sokka thought. Sometimes it was just so easy to forget that Azula was, in fact, a woman. He pulled her back up to her feet but she didn't stand up. She mostly leaned on him.

Sokka suddenly felt extremely nervous; he could hear his heart pounding. There was no doubt in his mind that if she snapped out of it, she'd rip him to shreds in seconds for even daring to touch her. He swallowed, hard, moving his hands up to her shoulders and shaking her a little.

"Azula? Come on, talk to me," Sokka said, shaking her again. She grumbled again, her face twisting into a pained expression. She opened her eyes for a split second, looking up at him. She didn't even seem to notice that he was currently holding her up.

"...My...head," She managed to say.

"Your head hurts?" Sokka questioned for clarification. She nodded. Sokka bit his lip for a second, unsure of what he should do next. He didn't want to do anything to make her angry but at the moment? She didn't really seem like she was in the kind of position to be getting angry at anyone. Sokka sighed, quickly moving an arm behind her and dipping down to scoop her up in his arms. Sokka would have never thought her to be as light as she was. Not that it was a bad thing. He knew that despite her smallish stature, Azula was a force to be reckoned with, even without her firebending.

As quickly as he could manage, Sokka carried her through the house and into her bedroom. He set her down on the bed softly. She adjusted herself a little, finding a more comfortable position. Sokka placed his hand over her forehead, checking her temperature. It didn't feel like she had a fever so that was good, at least. It was just a bad headache. He sat beside her on the beside her on the bed.

He noticed that Azula's hair was braided. Sokka remembered that whenever Katara would have a headache she'd undo her braid and let her hair down. Sokka had most definitely been pushing his limits in the last five minutes but she didn't seem to notice, let alone care. Maybe if he undid her braid for her that would help ease the pain...

Deciding to take the chance, Sokka scooted a little closer to her and reached behind her head, grabbing her braid. She didn't move. Sokka pulled the small tie off the end and tossed it aside. She still didn't move, aside from her breathing. Must have been some headache. He started taking the braid out of her hair, slowly, being extra careful not to pull on her hair at all. When he was done her dark hair had a gentle wave and had more than a little poof to it. Her hair surrounded her, making her look almost double in size. He smiled. Hopefully that would make it a little more comfortable for her.

Sokka stood up, figuring he should leave her alone now. She needed to rest. As he headed towards the door though, she made a soft sigh. It gotSokka's attention. He turned around, freezing in his tracks, instantly forgetting why he had even turned around in the first place.

That was the first time Sokka looked at Azula and thought she was _beautiful_.

Sure, he had always thought she was pretty. Even when they were teenagers and she had been...well, evil. You'd have to be crazy not to realize she was a rather attractive female. But now she just looked...beautiful. There was no other way Sokka could put it. Maybe it was the way the light was shining in through the window and landing on her. Maybe it was the way her hair looked, spread out all around her. Maybe it was the way her lips were slightly parted...but whatever it was...she looked beautiful.

After a few moments, Sokka made a decision. He was going to prove that he could paint her better than he did that morning.

He swiftly gathered all the things he'd need, including a small table. He set up everything in Azula's room, right in front of her, being as quiet as he possibly could. In no time at all he was ready to begin. He sat down at the table, taking a piece of lead in his hand to start sketching her out. He didn't want to take too long with that because he felt like he was being timed. She could wake up at any given moment and how awkward would that be? Probably not as awkward as things had been between them at first, but still pretty high up there on the awkward scale. And it was probably a little on the dangerous side.

She stirred a little, but not enough to force Sokka to completely redo his sketch of her. As he started to work on her face he idly wondered why he hadn't realized she was beautiful sooner. He had been living with her for about a month now... Of course, Sokka had never really thought of her as anything but 'enemy' until he had found her here in this town...And that causedSokka's mind to trail off on another thought.

What _did_ he think of Azula as now? She definitely wasn't his enemy anymore, that was for sure. Sokka wasn't sure if he could consider her a friend or not. Sokka wanted to, though. He thought they had some sort of twisted friendship thing going on. But it didn't seem like Azula really considered anyone as a friend. Not anymore, at least. That didn't mean he couldn't call her a friend.

Even in his mind that just didn't sound right. Azula? Friend? Yeah, that was right. It had to be. He didn't know what else he could call her so friend would just have to do. He wondered what she _really_ thought of him as well. There had to be a reason she had actually put up with him this long. Maybe she did think of him as a friend.

...Not that Sokka really cared or anything.

And as he slowly started to paint over his sketch, Sokka could hear Suki's voice in the back of his mind.

_"Of course you care! You wouldn't be thinking this hard about it if you didn't,"_ She chided. Sokka could just see the smug look on her face too. That was frustrating. He grumbled, annoyed that his subconscious would play such cruel games with him.

_"And you can stop pretending you can't hear me right now, Sokka!"_ She added. That brought a smile to his face. That was just like her...

Had it really been a year since she and the baby had passed away? It didn't seem like it had been that long... Sokka was starting to realize that time just seemed to fly by faster and faster the older he got. Just thinking about it brought a little heartache to his chest. But it was a dull heartache. It was still painful, but it wasn't the kind of pain that made you double over and writhe anymore. This was the kind of pain that could be overcome. And Sokka really thought finding Azula had helped him with that, at least a little bit. He was grateful, even if he knew he'd never say anything about it to her.

Looking at what he had accomplished so far with this painting, Sokka was proud of himself. Maybe it had just been some sort of freak accident, but the colors were flowing together almost like one of Azula's paintings. And Azula's head wasn't cabbage shaped. In fact, he thought it looked almost exactly like the sleeping woman.

Sokka knew he needed to take it one step further and move on with his life completely, but he still wasn't sure if he could.

_"Are you happy right now?"_ Suki's voice came back again. Sokka sighed. Well, he certainly wasn't _un_happy. He sighed. This thought topic wasn't exactly pleasant. So he just stopped it right there. He needed to focus all of his attention on his painting right now anyway. He was just so far along now that it would have really, really sucked if he messed it up now because his mind was wandering elsewhere. He'd pick up that thought topic later.

Biting his lips together, Sokka put some finishing touches on his painting. He wanted it to be perfect. Or as perfect as he could possibly make it, anyway. After a while, Sokka just stopped himself. He knew that if he kept fiddling with it he'd end up ruining it. Or at least that's what Azula would always say.

He carefully carried it into the main room and set it down on the table next to the painting he had done that morning. Yeah. He definitely proved he could do a lot better than that. Sokka smiled smugly before he went off to clean up the mess he had made. He had to make sure he left everything cleaner than it had been before. Otherwise Azula would have a fit. Sokka knew the rules of the house. Number one was "Clean up after yourself or die."

He hadn't realized just how long he had been working on that thing. It was almost dark out by the time he sat down to eat something. And for barely doing anything aside from painting all day, Sokka was _exhausted_. He yawned, wondering when Azula would be feeling better. Sokka went into her bedroom to check on her again. He thought it was awfully strange how she had just randomly gotten a headache. And how she had spaced out and started mumbling again. He was really starting to think there was something going on with her that she wasn't telling him. Sokka hoped she woke up soon, though. Partly because he was a little worried...

...But mostly because he just really, _really_ wanted to show her what he had been working on all day.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed the ridiculous amount of foreshadowing in this chapter, if you caught it all of course, harharhar~

As always, FEEDBACKPLZKTHX! Your reviews feed my muse and get her to work harder at getting these chapters out quicker. ;D


	7. chapter SIX

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When Azula opened her eyes, she saw nothing. Nothing but an endless black abyss in front of her. She tried to move. She couldn't do much of that either. She was chained to the wall. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.

One by one, dim yellow lights started appearing in front of her. She heard footsteps.

There were three men trying to hold her down, trying to restrain her. She squirmed, writhed and bucked, anything in an attempt to break free. Nothing worked.

She was strapped down to a chair. Her gaze went from one man to the next. They were dressed in the most peculiar way, she noted. They mumbled to each other. Another man came and pushed the other two aside. He bent down and hovered over Azula. His piercing green eyes causing her physical pain.

"Yes, you will be of use to me," He smirked, then laughed.

Azula shook violently, trying to break her restraints. The man just kept laughing.

Azula closed her eyes, trying to block out the sound.

Alarms were blaring, panicked faces were all around as Azula was finally free. She attacked one man who was in her way, smashing his skull against the stone wall. When another approached her, she bit two of his fingers clean off. That would show them. How dare they try to contain her, how dare they try to contain a...

...A monster.

They had her again. Somehow they had managed to trap her again. But she wouldn't give up. No. She tried again, and again, and again, and again. Failure, after failure, after failure. Azula could feel the tears bubbling up in her eyes, clouding her view. She wouldn't give in, no, not ever.

Azula felt a large jolt and saw a blindingly bright flash of pale blue. Then she was in excruciating pain. She screamed.

Silence.

Except for the birds chirping and the sound of a light breeze rustling the leaves.

Everything was calm.

Azula looked around herself. She was in her home. Not one thing out of place. She sauntered over to the table, grabbing a paintbrush. She examined it for a moment before something else caught her attention.

Smoke. There was black smoke rising up from the floor. In an instant there was a wall of blue flames before her. Behind her, surrounding her. Azula's breath got caught in her throat as she gasped for air. She wasn't afraid of fire. She tried to get to the door. Despite the searing hot temperature, she shook the knob, unable to get the door open. She moved to a window instead, trying to open it. Didn't work. She tried every single window and door in the house, any potential escape point. As the smoke started to get to her, she realized something.

She was trapped.

Again.

She fell to her knees. How could she let this happen? How could she let them restrain her again? She tucked her head against her lap. It was only a matter of time now. She couldn't bend the flames away, why even bother trying to get away? She felt the intense heat against her skin for a long time.

Then it stopped. She raised her head to see a group of people standing before her. Their eyes were in shadows but she recognized them anyway. Her brother, the blind girl, the waterbender. Mai and Ty Lee had joined them too. The Avatar stood in front of all of them, a sadistic smirk on his lips as his arrow began to glow. He held up his hand. Blue fire was ignited in his palm.

Azula's face twisted into anger and she launched herself towards the group. But as soon as she would have made contact, they all disappeared without a trace.

Azula was alone then. In a vast space of nothing. And more nothing. All around her, she didn't see anything. Where was she? There had to be some sort of explanation for this. There always was.

She started slowly walking into the nothing. It didn't seem like she was going anywhere. Until a small red dot appeared. She started running towards it. It got bigger and bigger and Azula recognized that it was the form of a young girl sitting on the ground, her back was facing Azula. The closer Azula became, she also heard the child singing.

"_An extraordinary beauty from the North, the most beautiful being in the world..._" As the form of the girl got clearer and clearer, Azula slowed down and stopped. She was standing a few feet away from the girl.

"_From her first glance, the city bows before her, from her second the empire falls to ruins..._" The girl stood up and brushed off her clothes. They were clearly Fire Nation. Clearly Fire Nation royalty.

"_And there isn't a city or empire we can admire more than her..._"

She turned around, her song finished. There was a green doll in her hands. Azula knew _exactly_ who she was looking at.

"Artists are useless," the child said, examining her doll. She looked up at Azula, her bright gold eyes filled with hate.

Azula looked down at the girl with anger.

"You're useless," A devilish smirk grew on her small lips, "Just like this doll." The young girl ripped the doll in two. The body in one hand, the head in the other. She held both parts up, still smiling. Then she set them on fire. Blue fire. It was always blue, never red, never red. The girl started laughing. And laughing as the doll shriveled up. She tossed it to the ground where it continued to smolder. She took a step forward towards Azula.

"You're next."

Azula's eyes snapped open. Her breaths were quick and uneven. She sat up and looked around. She was in her bedroom. It was only a nightmare, just a nightmare... She stared up at the ceiling for a few moments before she sat up in bed, rubbing her temples. Judging by the way the light was filtering in from the windows, it was late morning. She _rarely_ slept in that late. Azula thought about the previous day, trying to remember what exactly had happened. She recalled she had been painting that landscape commission and then everything just...blacked out.

With a sigh she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching. She needed to go sketch out what she remembered from her nightmare before she forgot. Nightmares were not an uncommon occurrence for her. And more often than not they came in broken up little pieces. By sketching out (and sometimes painting) what she remembered of them was her way of trying to make sense of the pieces, trying to put them together. She didn't know what they meant but they had to mean something. To Azula, there was a meaning and an explanation for everything, even if it wasn't always immediately clear.

As she walked up the hall and into the main room, Azula wondered where that Water Tribe imbecile had run off to. She wouldn't have put it past him to still be sleeping. But the house was quiet. And usually, if he was still sleeping, you could hear his ridiculously loud snoring.

After running her fingers through her messy dark hair a few times, Azula sat down at her table. She grabbed a piece of lead, making a mental note to get some more the next time she went into town and then she noticed the painting that was in front of her. It wasn't the tropical landscape she had been working on. It was a painting of a sleeping woman. It was a painting of _her_. That idiot must have done it yesterday while she had been sick. She had to admit, it was a good piece. For something that was created by Sokka, of course. The composition was pretty good. Anatomy was decent. She compared that painting to the one he had done the previous morning and it was an improvement. Idiot was right when he insisted he could have done better...

She swallowed a hard lump in her throat as she realized something. When she got headaches like those, she usually collapsed wherever she was at the moment. The last place she remembered being was sitting at the table, Sokka standing over her shoulder. When she had woken up this morning she had been in her bed. That moron must have caught her and carried her back to her bedroom...

Azula cringed slightly at the thought of him touching her, let alone carrying her to the other side of the house, but he was...smart enough to not leave her laying on the floor. And just wait a second. Hadn't her hair been in a braid yesterday...?

The former princess refused to expand her thoughts on that, but she figured she ought to go find him and at least say something about the painting. Over the last month she had learned that much like a dog, Sokka responded well to positive reinforcement.

Azula quickly went to change clothes and washed up a little. She then began looking for him throughout the house. While she did, she noticed that he had also done a little bit of cleaning too. That brought a small smile to her face since Sokka was normally quite the slob. Maybe her strict rules were finally starting to rub off on him.

He wasn't anywhere in the house so Azula ventured outside. Sure enough, there he was, right outside the door and sitting amongst the flowers. Painting them.

"Good morning," Azula said from behind him, her voice calm. Startled, Sokka nearly jumped three feet in the air.

"Oh, uh, hi, Azula," He greeted her, standing up.

"You're up early," she commented.

"Mmhmm, yeah. I didn't sleep well last night," He explained.

"I see," she said.

"Are you feeling better?" Sokka blurted out the question. Azula nodded.

"I wouldn't be out here if I wasn't now would I?" She replied, crossing her arms.

"No, I suppose not," Sokka laughed a little.

"So what were you doing?" She inquired.

"Painting the lilies. I thought it'd be good practice," Sokka responded.

"Let me see," Azula ordered. Sokka bent down and picked up the damp piece of parchment, holding it out for Azula to see. She leaned closer to it, examining every brushstroke, "Not bad. You're finally starting to understand that petals are all relatively the same size. And your color choices are getting better as well."

"Thanks," Sokka accepted the sort-of compliment with a big smile.

"I saw the painting you did yesterday, "Azula continued. She could see a slight tinge of red appear on Sokka's cheeks.

"Oh, you did...I just...I got bored," He said. He couldn't keep eye contact with her for more than a few seconds. Maybe it was just the light messing with his mind but he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked again. Even if she looked like a complete mess compared to the way she usually did.

"Understandable, I suppose. I was out cold for most of the day, wasn't I?" Azula questioned.

"Yeah, you were," Sokka said softly, unconsciously leaning a little closer to her, "So...what did you think of that painting?"

"Room for improvement, but very good," Azula smiled, "You must have spent a lot of time on it."

"I did," His voice grew even quieter as he kept slowly leaning closer.

"You weren't kidding when you said you thought you could do better," She said.

"You know me," Sokka started, "I'm just not the type to kid around." He laughed a little at his joke. Azula cracked another smirk.

"No, not ever," She agreed, her head tilting to the side a little as his face grew nearer to hers. He was so close she could feel his warm breath on her face. "Sokka?"

"Hmm?" Sokka was slightly confused. She rarely ever called him by his name in a non-mocking fashion.

"Thanks."

"For what?" He questioned her, his eyes half closed.

"Don't play stupid, you know what I mean," Azula whispered.

Sokka inched even closer to her and nearly closed the gap between their lips. And he probably would have too, if Azula hadn't backed away at the last second, a strange expression immediately coming over her. It was mixed with confusion and a little bit of anger, Sokka thought.

"I...I have things to do," She said sternly, almost angrily, before turning around and heading back into the house. Sokka grumbled to himself. What the hell had just happened? Sighing, he slunk back down into the flowers. He had a painting to finish.

Azula also had a painting to finish. She moved Sokka's paintings off to the side, not really caring where they ended up at the moment and she sat down at her table. She popped the lids off of all her canisters and picked up the best brush she could find. That idiot must have been using all of the good ones. Normally, Azula would have gone back outside and demanded them back from him but she was trying to avoid him at all costs after what had just happened.

He had almost...kissed her. Just the very thought of it seemed so foreign to her. It angered her. How dare he think he could get away with that? Hadn't she made her boundaries clear? Of course, he was a total, complete imbecile. Though Azula was now starting to think that was being too generous to him.

Taking her brush, she started finishing her landscape. Since her firebending had been taken away from her, art had become her outlet. In her irritation, however, she messed a few things up. She started fixing them as she continued to think.

She was about _this_ close to kicking him out of her home. Yes, he had been a great help around the house. But now she was starting to think he had overstayed his welcome. He had been living with her for over a month now! If he was interested in staying in Makung more permanently, Azula's was just not the place to do it. He didn't even pay her rent! Azula thought she had been more than hospitable towards the Water Tribesman, even if he was a spy for Zuko.

...Though she had to admit, having a little company, even if it was just that moron, was a little refreshing. Azula usually made it a point to avoid all contact with people unless absolutely necessary. She liked her privacy and feared that if she was too sociable her true identity would surface and then she'd be hurled back into the spotlight. Not to mention criticized for her actions against the country she now called home.

Azula sighed, swishing her brush in the rinse water. Her thoughts turned back to Sokka. His actions...confused her. And that was not an easy thing to do. Why would he even _want_ to kiss her? Because she had no idea what he had been doing if that wasn't it. (Which might not actually be too far off base, but Azula was too prideful to admit that, even to herself.) They were supposed to be enemies. Maybe that wasn't the best term for it; the war had been over for over a decade, but she and Sokka sure as hell weren't supposed to be friends. Azula didn't have friends. She didn't need them. She didn't want them. Friends were a pointless annoyance to her. Not worth the time or the effort. Trusting anyone but herself was foolish, Azula knew.

There. That was good enough. Normally, Azula would never slack off, she'd give everything her best effort, but she feared that if she kept messing with this painting she'd screw it up further and be forced to re-do it. Which she most definitely didn't want to do. With a sigh she rinsed out her brushes and dried them a little with a rag. She'd still get paid a decent amount of money for it, which is all that really mattered, right?

Sokka was done painting his flowers as well. Carefully he carried all of his supplies back in the house. He tried to ignore Azula the best he could. He glanced at her for a moment. She wasn't paying attention. She was too busy doing something else.

Azula had concluded that she needed to relax and clear her thoughts. She decided she needed to have a nice, long, meditation session. She walked over to a small table in the corner. Four candles were set on top. She tossed her spark rocks up in the air a few times before she sat down on her knees before the table.

Sokka put all his supplies away exactly where he had put them, in better condition than what he had found them. He paused for a second to admire her finished landscape. It looked exactly like a beach on Ember Island. Almost made him want to vacation there again...

She tried to light her candles, but the spark rocks weren't exactly cooperating. She attempted a few more times. She grumbled in frustration and that caught Sokka's attention. As much as he didn't want to bother her more than he had to, he couldn't resist helping her out.

"Having issues?" He questioned from behind her. She said nothing. Sokka squatted down next to her, plucking the spark rocks from her hands. Azula glared at him. It was one of the insulted 'how dare you!' variety. It took Sokka a few tries to get the rocks to spark, but they sparked up for him, lighting the first candle. It glowed a warm yellow. Sokka grinned smugly. He also couldn't resist throwing a bad joke out there.

"So, does this make me more of a firebender than you?" He teased, setting the rocks on the table. Azula's glare changed ever so slightly. Now it was saying 'go away before I light you on fire.' Sokka understood that immediately. He stood up and straightened his clothes a bit. Azula picked up the burning candle and used it to light the other three.

"I'm going to go into town for some lunch, alright?" Sokka said, Azula didn't respond. She was ignoring him. Sokka sighed and left. She was so irritating. Just when he started thinking she might actually be a decent person somewhere in there, she had to go and be cranky and mean. Of course, Sokka's voice of reason made him rewind and rethink about that little joke he had thrown out there. Probably not the best thing he could have said to the former firebender. Of course, he had probably said much worse things than that to her in the past month. But for some reason, this time he actually felt pretty bad about his word choice.

As Sokka ate his lunch, he sat down at the fountain in the middle of town, watching the people go about their daily lives. It was sort of entertaining. There was a bunch of kids running around, playing. A group of teenage girls gossiping. An old farm couple arguing over prices. A young couple walking down the street, holding hands and stealing kisses from the other.

Sokka suddenly started feeling a little ill as he remembered his actions from that morning (how could he forget?). Why in the world had he almost kissed Azula? And why did it look like she almost wanted to kiss him back before she pulled away and ran in the house? Confusion! Sokka knew that he was physically attracted to her. That wasn't a new revelation. In fact, he probably would have been kind of worried about his mental state if he didn't find her physically attractive in some way. But what in the world came over him that made him want to kiss her? He just remembered finding himself staring at her lips, thinking about how soft they looked. And then she was running off like a spooked animal.

Unable to finish the rest of his lunch, Sokka started throwing small pieces of it to the birds. Might as well not let it go to waste. He was a little upset with himself over the whole thing. He thought of Azula as a friend. That was it. A pretty good friend. Kind of like Zuko or Toph. He wasn't supposed to want to kiss either of them! So why had his brain told him to kiss Azula? He pouted in frustration.

_"I know that look. You're just trying to fool yourself,"_ There was his inner Suki again. He grumbled. If the voices in his head were caving, then there had to be something more to this. And that kind of scared him.

Lust. Yeah, that had to be it. Nothing but a little lust since Sokka hadn't gotten any action in over a year. So he wanted to kiss an attractive woman. That was perfectly normal. Even if it was Azula, of all people. And maybe if he actually did kiss her, all of this would go away.

...Or she could tear him to shreds and set him on fire. He gulped, shaking his head. He needed to stop thinking about her for a while, that would probably help him immensely. Yawning, he stood up and stretched out a little bit. He'd go check to see if he had any letters from his friends and family.

Sure enough, there were two letters. One from Zuko and one from Aang. The one from Zuko wasn't that interesting. It was rather short. They usually were from Zuko. The Fire Lord was a very busy guy, it was kind of a miracle he even found the time to reply to Sokka's letters. Everything was going relatively well in the Fire Nation. Aside from the small rebel groups that still opposed Zuko's rule, of course. They were easily dealt with, however. In about a month or so, Zuko and Mai would be traveling to Ba Sing Se for some fancy royal thing. Mai was doing good and now that things were starting to settle down a little, the royal couple were trying to produce an heir. Sokka idly wondered if he should say anything to Azula about her brother and his wife. He knew Azula had been good friends with Mai...But he almost instantly decided not to. If he said anything about Zuko, Sokka was afraid Azula would start berating him for being a spy again. In the past two weeks, she had finally started to cool it with all the snide spy remarks.

...So much for not thinking about Azula.

The next letter, the one from Aang, wasn't much longer than the one from Zuko. Aang said he'd be in Makung in a month or so. Maybe more, maybe less. It wasn't a top prioreity at the moment. Sokka was okay with that. The blue light mystery wasn't that important. It was more of an annoyance to the townspeople than anything, Sokka had sort of figured. Judging by the date on the letter, though, Sokka estimated that Aang would be there in about three weeks. He was rather eager to see Aang. It had been a while since he had seen him last.

When Sokka got to Aang's warning about Azula, he smiled. _"Be careful, this is Azula we're talking about. You never know when she could have something up her sleeve. Don't get yourself into more than you can handle, Sokka..._" Sokka found that last statement kind of amusing. He probably had bitten off much more than he could chew a month ago when he asked her for painting lessons.

Sokka wrote replies to both of the letters and sent them off. He dawdled around town for about another hour before he started heading back towards Azula's house. It wasn't that he was avoiding her or anything...

Okay, he kind of was trying to avoid her. He just didn't know what to say to Azula. He was almost certain that there was nothing he could say that wouldn't make him look like a jerk or make him look like an idiot. More of an idiot than usual. He hoped she was still meditating when he returned. Or at least off painting. Or doing laundry. But knowing his luck, she'd be up and about and cleaning the house. And then he'd get suckered into cleaning as well. Sokka hated cleaning for Azula. She was just so...nitpicky. He could never clean anything right for her.

Coming up to the house, Sokka opened the door as quietly as he possibly could, just in case she was still meditating or taking a nap or something. He most definitely didn't want to disturb her. Disturbing Azula was never a good thing.

She was sitting in the corner, meditating. Just like he had left her. And she hadn't noticed his return. That was good. Very good. He closed the door behind him and took a few steps forward, watching her carefully. At that angle, he could see the candles too. And there was something very clearly different about them. Sokka distinctly remembered pretty, glowing yellow-orange flames burning on top of those candles.

But now? Now the flames were distinctly _blue_.

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A/N: I bet you all want to kill me after that cliffhanger. If you do, then mission accomplished! Things will be getting pretty exciting from here on out, guys, so thanks for putting up with the boring for this long. xD

This chapter wouldn't have taken so long but I had a nasty bit of writer's block for about a week, so that sucked. So I'm sorry, guys, ToT

**THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO MY AWESOME FRIEND ANARIEL TINDOMEREL. BECAUSE ONE, SHE'S AWESOME. AND TWO, SHE JUST HAD A BIRTHDAY. SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HER!**

_  
REVIEWS AND STUFF, PLZKTHX!_


	8. chapter SEVEN

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With a tired sigh, Sokka slumped onto the divan in the main room of Azula's home. He had just spent the morning down by the river with her doing laundry. Then they came back and hung it all out to dry. Now, Sokka had a bit of a headache. He rubbed his temples with a small groan, trying to help soothe the pain.

A few days had passed since his little...uh, incident with Azula out front. Things had returned relatively back to normal between the two of them. They seemed to be pretending it had never even happened. Azula seemed to have forgotten all about it. Aside from the odd, wayward glances she'd send his way when she thought he wasn't looking, she wasn't acting any different. Sokka, however, couldn't forget about it. It was one of the things that had frequently been on his mind for the past couple of days. That, and the mysterious blue color of those flames when Azula had been meditating. He hadn't told Azula about it. He didn't even dare to. Sokka had no idea how she would react to it and he didn't want to create unnecessary friction it their already rocky relationship.

What in the world could have caused that blue fire though? Azula had said she was no longer a firebender. True, Azula had a reputation for lying but really, what reason would she have to hide her firebending from him? It really didn't make any sense to Sokka. They just had to be trick candles or something. The wick could be coated in something to make the flames burn blue...

"I'm heading into town to do some shopping," Azula said suddenly, hovering over Sokka, "Are you coming with?" Sokka cracked an eye open, looking up at her.

"No, I don't think so," He said softly, "I have a headache, I wanna lay down for a while, see if it'll go away..." It wasn't that bad of a headache, really. It was a dull, minor pain that was more of an annoyance than anything. Normally, he would have gone into town with Azula, but he had ulterior motives today.

"Fine," Azula said harshly before grabbing her sac and slinging it over her shoulders. She left the house, leaving Sokka alone. Perfect. He was going to try out those candles. There had to be a simple explanation as to why the flames had turned blue. That didn't come to the conclusion that Azula still had her firebending. For some reason, Sokka just...believed her when she said she wasn't a firebender anymore. He remembered her reaction to his question that prompted her to tell him. Somehow he just didn't think someone could fake the mixed look of anger, frustration and sadness Sokka had seen flash across her face in an instant that day.

He waited a few minutes, making sure he knew she wasn't coming back for any particular reason. Then Sokka slunk off the divan and checked all the windows, just to make sure she wasn't around. He didn't want her to know he was snooping. Then she'd get all worked up and accuse him of being a spy again. Acting sneaky, Sokka grabbed the spark rocks off the counter and then sat down at the small table in the corner. He struck the rocks, lighting one candle. It burned yellow. He picked it up and gently lit the others. All of them burned yellow. Except for the very bottom where they flickered blue occasionally, but that didn't count. The flames he had seen on those candles were blue. Blue as in blue like the sky or the ocean. Like the fire Azula used to bend.

For the longest time, Sokka simply watched the candles. Nothing but nice, little yellow flames. No blue at all. It made no sense. It was no secret that Azula was a terrific actress...So she must have lied about her bending. Sokka didn't want to believe that though. He wanted to believe that Azula could be honest about _something_.

Satisfied for the moment, Sokka blew each of the candles out. He wasn't going to ask her about it, no. He respected her privacy. She might have had perfectly good reasons for concealing her firebending, even from him. While he was curious beyond all reason about what they could be, he knew it just wasn't his place to ask. As long as she wasn't disturbing the peace, anyway.

He grumbled, laying back down. Even if it was a small headache, maybe if Sokka did get rid of it, he'd be thinking a little clearer. If he was thinking clearer, maybe he'd actually come up with a reasonable theory about his current predicament. Right now, his only theory that made anything that even resembled sense was something about brainwashing. And that was just dumb, even by his standards. He closed his eyes, relaxing. A little nap would kick that headache away.

"Wake up," Sokka heard Azula voice. He cracked his eyes open, her figure slowly coming into focus. How long had he been asleep for?

"I am up," Sokka said groggily.

"Barely," Azula pointed out. Sokka rubbed his eyes and sat up, yawning. At least his headache was gone for the most part.

"So?" He asked. She rolled her eyes.

"I made you some tea. It should help your headache," Azula explained, handing him a cup of tea. Before Sokka could thank her, she walked off to do something else. Sokka held the cup in his hands for a while, just staring at his dark reflection in the liquid. That was awfully nice of her to think of him like that. He smiled, taking a small sip of the steaming tea. It was very good. That was definitely one thing people of the Fire Nation knew how to do better than anyone else in the world, make tea.

Azula passed by Sokka as she caught up on some chores around the house. With nothing better to do, Sokka watched her.

"I didn't know cleaning was so interesting," she commented absently. Sokka chuckled, taking another sip of tea.

"Of course it is, you thought it wasn't?" Sokka joked. Azula shook her head and sighed.

"When you're done with that, I require your assistance," she said before moving on to a different room. Sokka stared after her for a second, wondering what she could possibly need him for. It didn't sound like something of utmost importance so Sokka took his sweet time drinking his tea.

When he finished, he put the cup in the kitchen and went to find Azula. She was outside taking care of Miss Beaky, her ostrich horse. (Of course, Azula didn't really call her Miss Beaky. Sokka thought she ought to, though.)

"You said you needed my help?" Sokka questioned, leaning against the fence.

"You took too long. I did it myself," Azula said coldly. Sokka gave an exasperated sigh. She was so impatient sometimes...Most of the time.

"Okay..." Sokka said.

"But you can still do me a favor," Azula added.

"Oh?"

"The table is a mess. I don't like mess," Azula reminded him, though how could he ever forget? "Take all the dry, finished paintings off the table and put them in my closet," She ordered.

"Alright," He shrugged and stood up straight. He was about to head back towards the house to carry out the task she had assigned, but he stopped,"Azula?"

"What?" She replied harshly.

"Thanks for the tea. It was really good," He said, smiling. Azula slowly lifted her head and stared at him, slightly taken aback by what he had just said.

"...You're welcome," She said quickly and mechanically.

Inside, Sokka stared at the mess on the table. There was a surprising number of paintings sprawled out on top and piled up on each other. He scratched the back of his head. This might take a little longer than he thought. He started rolling the paintings up to make them easier to carry. As he picked them up, he admired Azula's paintings and criticized his own. Though he had to admit, he was a million times better now than he used to be. Sokka liked to think Azula was proud of him for that. But of course, she was Azula. Statues were probably more expressive than she was. He chuckled to himself.

He carried an armful of paintings back to Azula's bedroom. He set them all down on the bed and opened her closet. Sokka put the rolled up pieces of parchment away wherever he could find a place to put them. There were hardly any clothes in Azula's closet. It was filled with paintings. It didn't take him long to put that batch of paintings away though. As he turned to go get another batch, he knocked a few paintings off a shelf. He bent down and picked them up. Judging by the feel of them, they were a bit older.

Sokka stared at the rolled up painting in his hand for a moment before he let his curiosity get the better of him. He stepped into the light and unrolled the parchment. He raised an eyebrow at what he saw. It looked like a painting of a hallway. A dark one. He put that one away and took another. It was a room, messily put together. Now thoroughly intrigued, Sokka pulled out a whole bunch of her other paintings.

There was one that eerily reminded him of lake Laogai. Another was an unfinished portrait of a man. A Fire Nation girl holding a broken doll. A painting of a few men, circling something. Their faces were dark aside from their eyes, which glowed green. It was creepy, to say the least. The next one Sokka looked at was of a mutilated dragon, curled up and bleeding. That made him feel a little nauseous. The gore didn't really bother him, no. It was the fact that this must have come from Azula's imagination. Dragons were extinct. He wondered what other disturbing things were rolling around inside her mind. But then he quickly realized he was probably better off not knowing.

Something he noticed about the old paintings was Azula's techniques. Her brush strokes were short and erratic. They were rarely smooth. Her paintings were still amazing, though.

He browsed through a few more paintings. A reoccurring theme seemed to be green. Green eyes, specifically. And blue. And dark. Lots and lots of dark.

Quickly, Sokka cleaned up the mess he had created and made a decision. He was going to ask Azula about her time in the asylum. Sokka had never pressed her about it. He knew it was probably a touchy subject for her. But after seeing those paintings, he just had to know _something_ about the time she had spent there. He didn't really know why he wanted to know so bad. Mostly curiosity but... Sokka considered her a friend. He kind of wanted to know what his friend had endured. He wanted to get a better understanding of how she worked, what made her tick.

And perhaps, if she told him anything about her time in the asylum, it might help shed some light on the blue candle incident.

Completely forgetting the task Azula had given him, Sokka rushed through the house looking for her. She was in the kitchen washing dishes, humming that infernal song to herself.

"Azula?" Sokka called from behind her. She glanced at him, unamused.

"What?"

"We need to talk," He said awkwardly. Sokka didn't usually go to Azula looking for a conversation. Especially a conversation that was likely to be about touchy subjects. Azula turned and stared at him for a few moments. What in the world would he want to talk about?

"I'm busy," her voice was flat. She turned back to her dishes.

"Its important," Sokka said, trying to add a slightly urgent tone to his voice.

"I'm sure it can wait," Azula snapped. Sokka grunted in frustration. He wanted to talk to her _now_!

"It can't."

"It can."

"No, it can't."

"Yes, it can," Azula repeated, rolling her eyes.

"We need to talk _now_," Sokka said impatiently and a little whiny. Azula sighed.

"When I'm finished washing dishes," Azula replied.

"The dishes can wait!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Yes they can!"

"No, they can't."

"You're infuriating," Sokka grumbled.

"I know, and so are you," Azula said. Sokka inhaled as if he was going to argue that statement but then it dawned on him that he couldn't.

"How much longer is this going to take?" Sokka questioned. Azula smirked, grabbing a towel and drying off her hands.

"I'm done," She told him.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Sokka narrowed his eyes at her, feeling awfully stupid for not catching on sooner.

"Obviously," She rolled her eyes.

"So can we talk now?" Sokka asked bluntly.

"I suppose," she sighed, not looking forward to it.

"Great," Sokka grinned. Both walked into the front room. Azula sat down on the divan and Sokka sat down beside her.

"So...?" She started, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

"So...I was just...well, curious," Sokka started. He really had no idea how to approach the subject.

"About what?" Azula questioned, crossing her legs.

"About the time...you...spent in the asylum," Sokka replied, scratching the back of his head awkwardly and looking towards the ground. Azula recoiled, her temper flaring up a bit.

"_What?_" She demanded, "Why in world would you want to know about that? You have absolutely no business knowing!"

"Azula, relax!" Sokka protested. The look in her eyes was murderous, it was obviously taking a lot of her self-control not to maim him.

"You were snooping around in my closet, weren't you? Why couldn't you just carry out the task I assigned? Why did you have to pry in my business?" Her voice grew in volume with each sentence.

"I wasn't trying to pry! I just wanted to look at your paintings, see the ones I've never seen before! I swear that was my only motive!" Sokka exclaimed, nervous. He figured her reaction would be something similar to this, why had he even bothered trying? Both grew quiet. Azula watched him carefully, analyzing his every movement, no matter how small. He swallowed hard, the sound of his heartbeat pounding away in his head. Eventually, Azula sighed and looked away.

"To be honest, I don't really remember much," Azula said quietly, giving in. Did it really matter if he knew if she couldn't remember? "It was like I went to bed the night before Sozin's Comet...and then woke up three and a half years older."

"That...must have been hard," Sokka replied with equal softness.

"It was...but it wasn't," She contradicted herself. Sokka looked up at her, subconsciously moving closer, "That's when I discovered I was good at painting."

"You mean you never knew that before?"

"Before, I didn't have time for it. Painting pretty pictures was pointless to me then," She responded.

"That's kind of sad, in a way," Sokka said.

"I suppose," Azula shrugged, "Then once they deemed me sane, the doctors informed me that Zuko had banished me from the Fire Nation and that I was to be released in the Earth Kingdom to live out the rest of my life. I've been here since."

Sokka bit his lips together, not knowing what to say. Though it sounded rather odd that Zuko had banished her. It made sense, but it sounded...wrong. He didn't push it. It was a miracle she had opened up this much, Sokka thought.

"So...what about the paintings?" Sokka questioned.

"Things from my nightmares. I like to paint them, sketch them. I think they're all pieces to the puzzle."

"What puzzle?"

"Why I can't remember three years of my life. It all has to be connected, I refuse to believe it isn't," She explained, her eyes glossing over a little, looking empty. She glanced away from him. His eyes stayed focused on her.

"Suki died a little over a year ago," Sokka said suddenly. Azula's attention turned back to the Water Tribesman.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You told me something about you, I'm telling you something about me. Its only fair," Sokka explained himself.

"Hmph," Azula replied, letting him continue.

"We were married...Then we were going to have a baby," Sokka said, blue eyes focused on the floor as he spoke. Azula gave him an awkward look. She appeared a little confused, "Everything was perfect, she was the picture of health right up until she went into labor..." Sokka trailed off, this was a rather difficult subject for him to talk about. He sighed.

"They both died, didn't they?" Azula asked, her voice soft. It didn't hold the coarse edge it usually did.

"Yeah," Sokka whispered, "The baby died just hours after she was born...and then Suki died a day later."

"That's rather unfortunate,"Azula said.

"After Suki died, I just felt...lost. So I started traveling the world, feeling like I'd find something. That was a year ago..." Sokka's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Did you?"

"What?"

"Find something," Azula answered like it was obvious. Sokka looked at her, their eyes locking.

"Well," He began, "I found you, didn't I? That was definitely unexpected," He laughed a few times.

"I suppose you did. And here I thought I'd never have to endure another encounter with your idiocy," Azula smirked as she leaned a little closer to him. He grinned.

"Too bad, so sad," Sokka teased, mirroring Azula's actions and leaning towards her. Her lips were looking so...inviting right now. Mentally, he slapped himself. He knew she'd probably rip him a new one for even thinking about it. But that nagging voice in the back of his brain was making him cave. Without her firebending, Sokka could hold her off long enough to escape if she tried anything, couldn't he?

"Do you miss her?" Azula asked out of the blue. There was something unexplainable in the quiet tone of her voice.

"Of course I do," Sokka responded, "But...I think I've moved on."

"Really," Azula asked, though it was more of a statement. Sokka stared at her for bit before he answered. He hadn't noticed that their noses were almost touching. Screw it. Just screw it, he thought. He was going to kiss her, regardless of the consequences. It had been bugging him for days and now it was just driving him mad.

"...Yes," He breathed, his eyes slipped shut as he closed the tiny distance between them. As gently as he could, Sokka pressed his lips to Azula's. She froze, but she didn't pull away. Sokka didn't know how to explain what he was feeling but it wasn't bad, no. It was the opposite of that. He _liked_ this. Her lips were much softer than he had imagined.

Since she hadn't protested, he kissed her a little harder, placing one of his hands over her cheek. And then she responded, her lips started moving with his. Now that she was returning it, Sokka almost questioned why he had been so hesitant. He pulled her a little closer to him, encouraging that warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

But of course, that was the second she decided to pull away. She stared at him, puzzled and full of something Sokka figured was akin to rage. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then she shot up from her seat and glared down at him. With the kind of death glare he would have expected from her ten years ago. For a split second, Sokka was actually afraid.

"I'm going to pretend that didn't just happen," Azula spat with malice. She turned and stormed away.

* * *

A/N: OH MY GOD THIS TOOK FOREVER.

First Sokkla Summer came up so I didn't keep up with this, then some loser posted an evil secret on F!S that killed Sokkla fandom and then I just got crazy busy with stuff.

Honestly, I think this chapter was kinda crappy but...AT LEAST ITS UP. Chapter 8 is hilarious, I promise.

REVIEWS AND STUFF MAKE ME HAPPY!

Much love,

Miss Frerak~


	9. chapter EIGHT

* * *

Sokka felt like an idiot. Probably because he was one. Honestly, what kind of moron would decide that kissing Azula was a _good_ idea? It was slightly more than a miracle that he was still alive.

But that didn't really change the fact that he had liked the feeling of her lips against his. He hadn't just _sort of_ liked it either, no. He _really_ liked it.

Which was probably the number one reason he was a total, complete idiot right now. Wanting to kiss the former fire princess was one thing. Wanting to kiss her again and again was practically a death sentence.

He growled to himself, still sitting on the divan. He hadn't moved since Azula had snapped and left. He hadn't seen her around since either. Sokka was honestly surprised she wasn't furiously cleaning something. Perhaps she was just off plotting his imminent doom instead? That made sense. And it scared him a little. But she had kissed him back! Sokka knew she had! Then again, he had been hearing the voice of his dead wife in the back of his head lately. Maybe an over-active imagination _was_ the culprit.

As much as he had enjoyed that, though, Sokka couldn't help but think he had just ruined his sort-of friendship with Azula. That upset him more than he ever thought it would. He was still getting used to thinking of her as a friend, (or something more than that?) let alone as enemies. He didn't want to be enemies with her again. There was just something about her that he knew he'd miss. It definitely wasn't her obsessive cleanliness, that was annoying. It couldn't be that she was normally rude, mean and awfully cynical towards him. And it wasn't that she appeared insanely dangerous, even without her firebending (though Sokka now really expected she had lied to him about that).

Sokka had a decent idea of what he'd miss, actually.

He liked to see the extremely rare moments when she'd let her guard down, when little things would remind him that she was still just a person, not that much different than him.

But that was cheesy. And stupid. Oh so very, very stupid.

Feeling a slight bit paranoid, Sokka decided he'd leave for a little and let things cool off. If she really was plotting his demise, Sokka didn't want to be around, just in case she decided to go through with her plans. Not to mention a few rounds of sake sounded really good right about now.

Armed with enough money to last a while, Sokka left, heading for the tavern. He didn't bother with looking for Azula and telling her where he'd be. He didn't want her to know.

Azula wanted to strangle him. She wanted to put a noose around his neck, hang him from a tree and bludgeon him to a messy, bloody pulp. What was he thinking?! He wasn't, that's what, and Azula thought that that stupid, idiotic moron really ought to face the consequences of his actions.

What in the universe would make him kiss her? Had he gone brain dead for a whole thirty seconds? Azula found that to be a somewhat reasonable explanation, actually. What worried her the most though, was that she had kissed him back. Before she realized what they were doing, of course. Then she bolted away and went to the other side of the house. Currently, she was in her room organizing the mess Sokka had made in her closet. It had been such a simple task and somehow he'd managed to screw it up. Imbecile. If Azula hadn't lost her faith in humanity years ago, she was certain Sokka would have made sure she lost it.

Azula placed a bunch of paintings in a precise order on the shelf. She wondered why her first thought had been to get away from him instead of just kick him out of the house altogether. She would have gone and done it now but she was afraid she'd end up killing him. It wasn't that she really cared if he was alive or not, she just didn't want to call the attention to herself. She knew he'd put up a long and noisy fight and Azula knew she wasn't exactly in the position to be getting away with murder anymore.

She sighed, closing her closet and sitting on the bed. The last time she had kissed anyone was ten years ago on Ember Island. Azula had barely remembered what it felt like. Kissing Sokka hadn't exactly been horrible but it hadn't been the best thing either. It still angered her, though. He didn't even ask! He was rude and stupid enough to just do it! Didn't he know who he was dealing with?

Yes, yes he did. Of course Sokka knew who he was dealing with. Yet he did it anyway.

This was all a little too dramatic for her. This kind of drama was almost worthy of the rich and royal courtesans in the Fire Nation. And even when Azula had been royalty, she hated all of that. Now it irritated her even more.

So she decided to get out of the house for a while. When she got back, she'd kick the idiot out. Unless she ended up being in a better mood. Which was highly unlikely.

She grabbed a shawl and draped it over her shoulders. The nights were starting to get a little chilly, at least they were to Azula. But to someone who grew up in a place where the temperature was always hot or hotter, anything else seemed cold. She grabbed her coin purse and dug around inside, picking out a couple silver pieces and a few copper ones. She hid them in her bodice. That way, if anyone tried to steal it, she'd have more of an excuse to tear them apart. Besides, where she was planning on going, she didn't need a small fortune anyway. Azula wasn't the type to get completely wasted.

Slamming the door behind her, Azula started walking into town. Her steps were brisk and purposeful, she wasn't wasting anytime. As she started to see the flickering lights in town, she realized she hadn't even seen Sokka around the house before she had left. Perhaps he had kicked himself out. That would have been lovely. Would have saved her the time and energy of doing it herself. But Azula doubted he was smart enough for that. She sighed as she walked into the tavern. She sat down at the bar and immediately ordered a drink.

While Sokka had left the house before Azula, he had decided to wander around aimlessly for a little while. Being outside helped him think a little clearer. Even then, though, he still had no idea what he was going to say to Azula the next time he saw her. Or if he'd even confront her again. He wanted to apologize but he knew he'd only make himself sound like a fool, so was it really worth it? But on the other hand, Azula already thought him to be one of those, so did it really even matter? And even if he did apologize, would she accept it? The pessimist in him said no. Not in a million years.

Sitting down on the edge of the fountain in the center of town, Sokka wondered if people had still been seeing that mysterious blue light. He figured they were, even though he hadn't heard anything about it lately. Sokka hadn't really been paying that much attention to the townspeople. Must have been a habit he picked up from Azula.

He closed his eyes and tried to relax a little bit, listening to the rhythm of the water behind him. It didn't really work. Getting a stupid, childish idea, Sokka pulled out a copper piece. He held it tightly in his hand.

_"I wish I could make this right. Whatever that means," _He thought to himself. Then he threw the coin into the water behind him. Slowly he stood and stretched a little. Then he headed into the nearest tavern. He had been in this place before, he remembered. It was busier than last time, however.

He scanned the bar and noticed one open seat next to a woman. Sokka didn't pay attention to who she was until he sat down.

"What are _you_ doing here?" The oh-so-very familiar voice snapped and growled. Sokka bit his lips together and swallowed hard.

"Same think you're doing here," Sokka replied automatically, trying his hardest not to look at her. As he spoke, the bartender came over and Sokka ordered something to drink.

"You followed me here," Azula hissed, sipping at her drink with all the refinement of a seasoned royal.

"I had no idea you'd be here!" Sokka exclaimed as the bartender handed him his drink. Immediately he raised it to his lips and took a few hearty gulps of the strong liquid.

"You're lying," Azula snarled at him.

"No I'm not! When's the last time I ever lied to you, huh?" Sokka demanded.

"You're lying right now, you ignoramus," Azula replied flatly. Sokka took a few deep breaths and then chugged down the rest of his drink, using the time to think of something to say. It burned down his throat, but it felt so good right now. He slammed the glass down on the bar and threw enough money down for another drink. The bartender came around and filled Sokka's order. He stared at it longingly for a moment before he grabbed it and drank some more.

"Your silence means I'm right," Azula smirked, still daintily working on her first drink.

"You know what?" Sokka asked, leaning close enough to her that she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"What?" Azula barked, leaning away from him.

"I think you're just angry because I kissed you and you liked it!" Sokka announced. The second the words left his mouth though, he regretted it. That was definitely not the right thing to say if he wanted to make things right. Azula was making that painfully obvious as pure, unadulterated fury started boiling up in her eyes. She gritted her teeth together, restraining herself.

"And if we weren't in a public place, I'd rip you to shreds," she threatened violently.

Sokka stared at her wordlessly for a long time. Then he gulped and turned away, focused on whatever was directly in front of him. He had an overwhelming urge to flee the premises. His life was in danger here with that wild woman sitting just inches away from him. But Sokka was stubborn and he wasn't about to let her get her way. He wanted to intoxicate himself with sweet, sweet alcohol. Her presence was not going to stop him. If she had a problem with him being there, then she could be the one to leave.

The former princess quickly downed the rest of her drink and started on another. She wasn't even going to acknowledge his existence anymore. Sokka of the Water Tribe was a dead man to her at the moment. So she turned a little on her stool and stared off in some random direction. She had been here first anyway. She wasn't going to leave and give him the satisfaction of knowing that maybe she had actually enjoyed that kiss. A little. Sort of.

She continued to brood on the subject until her third glass of plum wine was about half gone, about an hour or so later. Then she was interrupted by a small group of drunken men. As they approached her, they caught Sokka's attention as well. His senses were starting to dull from the copious amount of alcohol he had consumed, but he still recognized trouble when he saw it. Azula paid little attention to them until they actually addressed her.

"Hey, pretty lady!" One of them slurred, laughing. He wore a soldier's uniform.

"How 'bout we leave this place, hmm?," A different one continued, placing a hot, heavy hand on Azula's shoulder. She shrugged it off immediately and stared up at him with malice. Sokka felt a little...jealous. Didn't those morons see that she had been here with him? Sort of? They had been arguing (loudly, by the way) for at least five minutes! Not that it mattered because why should he feel jealous about some drunken idiots hitting on their doom?

"How 'bout you leave me alone before I break your neck, hmm?" Azula snapped. The other men in the group burst into hysterical laughter. The one she had turned down grumbled in angry disappointment. He moved as if he was going to grab Azula's arm and pull her to her feet but she had a different plan. She blocked his hand and pushed it away from her. Then she stood and poured the remainder of her drink on the man before pushing past him and heading towards the washroom.

Sokka watched with mild amusement. Of course she turned them down. They were ugly anyway!

"Ain't she somethin'?" The bartender said to Sokka. He nodded, "But I'm sure you know that, eh? You seem to actually know her."

"Yeah, I know 'er. But I don't like 'er. Most of the time," Sokka replied. The bartender chuckled.

"She your girlfriend?"

"No! What would ever give you that idea, she's _insane_!" Sokka protested quickly. Him? And Azula? Together? Like that? Preposterous!

Or was it? Even if she was crazy, Sokka seemed to like subconciously entertaining the idea of Azula being his.

"The way you looked at 'er. The way she looked at you when she didn't think you were lookin'," The bartender explained. Sokka looked down at his drink.

"Oh," was he really that obvious?

"Well, whatever she is to you, I'm just happy to see she isn't completely alone," The bartender continued, then moved on to fill a few orders. Sokka continued to look down into his drink, seeing the dark outlines of his reflection in the liquid. With his mind clouded by the alcohol, Sokka's thought process wasn't crystal. He didn't know what to think. So what if the bartender thought Azula was his girlfriend. So what if he made it kind of obvious that he kind of liked her in more than a friendly way. So what if the bartender thought she was making it obvious too, (even though Sokka assumed the man had just been saying that because at the moment, Sokka truly believed Azula wanted to kill him.)

Giving himself another headache, Sokka groaned and rubbed his temples. He looked at the empty bar seat beside him and sighed. He really screwed up this time, didn't he?

"Man! That girl was harsh!" One of the men from before exclaimed, laughing.

"Think that whore would have actually broke your neck?"

"I dunno," He replied, the others erupted in laughter again.

"If she tried and you couldn't fight her off, then you'd have deserved it!"

"Hey, you gotta admit, that bitch was scary as hell!"

"If we all teamed up, we coulda taken her. Bet she would have made a mighty fine struggle too. But that's what makes it fun," another chuckled. Without warning, a fist came from nowhere and smashed into his cheek.

"Don't talk about her like that," Sokka growled, standing in a fighting stance. The four men who had been talking about Azula turned and spread out, surrounding the Water Tribesman.

"We can talk about whatever the hell we want," The one Sokka had punched rubbed the side of his face said. Sokka watched the four of them closely, though with a drunken haze over his mind, Sokka's reflexes weren't exactly the best. (Honestly, he had lost count of how many drinks he had had after five. Or six. Something like that.)

"What's it to you, anyway? She yours or somethin'?"

"Why would anyone want that? She was kinda ugly anyway!"

That last comment riled Sokka's temper up even more. Azula wasn't ugly, she was far from it! Thinking he could easily take down all four of these guys, he punched another one right in the gut. This time, though, the group fought back. From behind, the soldier put Sokka in a choke hold. Sokka flipped the soldier over his head and slammed him on a table, breaking it.

"What the-" The men sitting at it exclaimed, standing up and figuring what was going on.

Before too long, most of the bar had erupted into a full-out brawl. All because Sokka couldn't keep his mouth shut and had decided it would be a good idea to defend Azula.

A pudgy man got up on a table and jumped down, body slamming the nearest victim. Who happened to be Sokka.

When Sokka recovered (slightly) from that attack, he stumbled to his feet, ready to defend himself again. He didn't notice the soldier coming from behind him, holding a bar stool high above his head. In a rather predictable move, he crashed it down on Sokka's head, effectively knocking him to the ground.

This didn't stop the fight though. Oh no. It went on for quite a while.

When Azula left the washroom, she heard the rowdy yells and various things breaking. She groaned as she walked back up the short hallway and saw the fight.

"Can't I leave for five minutes without all hell breaking loose?" She mumbled to herself, looking for Sokka. Not that she cared if he got hurt or anything. He deserved it. On cue, he slid out of the mess of men and stopped at her feet. His forehead was bleeding and he had blood trickling down from his lips.

"Hi, Azula," He slurred.

"You started this, didn't you?" She asked flatly.

"Maybe?"

"You are so pathetically useless," She sighed, watching the enormous pile in front of her, "You owe me," Azula spat as she stepped over him and let her shawl fall off her shoulders and to the ground. Sokka sat up and watched her, slightly confused. What was she doing?

His question was soon answered though.

Azula launched herself at the nearest unsuspecting man and took him down with no more than a blow to his side. As he fell, that got the attention of a few fighters, they turned towards her. Both attacked her, but she deflected their blows and maneuvered herself behind one of them. Azula kicked him from behind, causing him to crash into one of his buddies. She jumped up on a table to get a quick, but better view of the entire situation. She backflipped off the table and landed in front of a man holding a broken bottle. He raised his arm as if he were to strike her, but she was most definitely quicker. With another well placed kick, Azula sent him flying into the table, which broke it in two. Inadvertently, the man and the table he crashed into took out another drunken moron.

A look of fascination mixed with horror appeared on Sokka's face. She had just taken down five men in less than thirty seconds. Without her firebending.

A group of about seven men closed in on her and attacked simultaneously. With blinding speed, Azula blocked their attacks. In the second they stared at her in stunned horror, Azula quickly and gracefully brought them all down to the ground, one by one.

The more men Azula knocked out, the more people Sokka noticed escaping the bar, including the group Sokka had started the fight with in the first place.

Within a few more seconds, Azula had the brawl under control. Those who weren't out cold were crawling for the door. Azula stood in the middle of the room and smirked, not a scratch on her.

"Looks like I'm not as rusty as I thought," She grinned to herself before turning back to Sokka. Sokka was slowly standing up, using a chair to help support his weight.

"Was that really necessary?" Sokka asked as she approached him.

"Was what necessary?"

"Beatin' the crap out of everybody! Kinda excessive, don'tcha think?" Sokka leaned over her.

"Not at all. They can't fight if they're unconscious, correct?" Azula smirked.

"But that didn't mean you hadda kill halfa 'em!" Sokka exclaimed. Azula rolled her eyes.

"They aren't dead. They'll all be fine," She said, grabbing Sokka's arm and pulling him outside.

"You sure?"

"Yes. Do you think you can make it back to my house?" Azula demanded. He gave a simple nod as she started pulling him along again.

It took them longer to travel back to Azula's than normal because of Sokka's clumsiness, but the journey had thankfully been silent. When they reached her home, Azula immediately made him sit down on the divan. He didn't argue, sitting down was a terrific idea. She left him for a few moments, getting a warm washcloth and some bandages.

"You're lucky your injuries weren't worse," Azula said as she sat beside him, the bandages in her lap, the washcloth in her hand, "Look at me," She ordered. He looked down at her. She wiped the blood off his chin first. Sokka didn't reply. He only watched her, making mental notes of how pretty she was.

"Why did you start that fight?" She asked, cleaning the gash on his forehead. She made no attempt to be gentle, she didn't really care if it hurt him or not.

"Those guys from before…They were talkin' bad about you," Sokka replied frankly. Azula pressed the washcloth into his wound hard enough to make it sting, "Ow!" He yelped.

"You started a bar fight with a bunch of idiots because they were saying things about me. You deserve to be in pain," Azula said flatly, scrubbing some dirt off his cheek.

"It wasn't right!" He protested.

"That doesn't mean you have to start a fight," Azula snapped, "Where else are you hurt?"

"I think the rest are just bruises," He replied, "And yeah, it did."

"What were you thinking? You'd defend me by taking down a few horny pigs? In case you didn't notice, I'm more than capable of defending myself," Azula explained, trying to restrain her anger. She knew it wouldn't do very much good to yell at a drunk man. He'd probably forget this entire conversation by morning.

"You weren't there and you're my friend. I'm not the kinda guy that's gonna sit back while some assholes call my friend ugly and scary and talk about doin' nasty things to her," Sokka explained himself, his words slurring together a bit. Azula stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You really are drunk," She commented.

"Why didn't you just let them all kill me? 'Cause you coulda, you know. And why did you bring me back here? I thought you were mad at me?"

"I am mad at you," Azula answered immediately, "But I couldn't just leave you there. Its not your fault you're a stupid backwards peasant who doesn't know how to handle himself."

"A decade ago you would have joined in on the fun, probably torched me alive," Sokka grinned.

"That was a long time ago. Things are different now," She said, picking the bandages she didn't use up out of her lap and standing up.

"You still didn't answer my question," He lazily smirked, looking up at her. She twisted the washcloth in her hands.

"What?"

"Why did you bring me back?" He asked again. She rolled her eyes.

"I did already answer that question," She said stubbornly.

"No, what's the real answer?" Sokka continued staring at her. She seemed to unravel a little under his gaze. Her eyes shifted and her hands fidgeted a bit. She swallowed hard.

"For the same reason you started the fight, I suppose," She said quietly before turning away, "Now go get some rest."

* * *

A/N: See? I told you that chapter was funny. Once again, sorry it took so long. I have absolutely no idea when the next one will be up. I have surgery next Wednesday. Blah. Stupid faulty gallbladder.

COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, WHATEVER, PLZKTHX


	10. chapter NINE

Sokka wiped off the table, making sure there wasn't one speck of dust left on the surface. He could just hear Azula's voice in the back of his head scolding at him for missing a crumb. Cleaning things to perfection had started to become quite natural for him, or at least somewhat automatic. He moved on to the chairs. As he started on the second one, Azula walked through the door. She was reading something and it must have been interesting. She walked right past Sokka and didn't say anything. She didn't even make a snide comment about his cleaning skills. Sokka didn't put much thought into it and went back to his task. If it was relevant to his interests, she'd let him know.

It had been almost a week since Sokka had started that bar fight. The cut on his forehead was almost completely healed over. Most of his bruises had disappeared, except for some of the bigger ones. He was feeling pretty good. Since the fight, things with Azula had been pretty good too. Neither dared to speak about the kiss, though. And Sokka thought that was probably for the best right now. But he most definitely didn't regret it.

They still argued on a daily basis, though most of the time, Sokka thought she was just trying to be more sarcastic than he was. Didn't she know that he was the sarcasm king, though? Obviously not. But Sokka did have to admit Azula was pretty good in the sarcasm department. A lot of their arguments had turned into nothing more than friendly banter, which was nice. But most of all? Sokka noticed something about her in the past few days that was different. She was smiling more. A lot more. And it wasn't just that obviously fake smile or that evil 'I'm plotting your demise' smile either, it was a real one. So that definitely led him to believe that she was happy. That he was making her happy. And that made him happy. Made him relieved too. After that kiss, after that stupid stunt he pulled at the bar, Sokka had been almost certain he had ruined absolutely everything between them. But now he thought he had been stupid to worry about it so much. For the past few days, they actually had been acting like friends. Real friends. Sokka liked that.

Suddenly, a piece of paper slapped down on the seat of the chair, in front of Sokka's face. The sound got his attention. He looked up to see Azula standing above him, her arms crossed.

"What?" He questioned. She stared at him and made a small motion towards the piece of paper. Sokka sighed and picked it up. He started to read it, "The 24th annual Golden Lotus art exhibition in Ba Sing Se," Sokka read, "What about it?"

"I've gone every year for the past four years," Azula explained, "This year, I expect you to come along. Even though I doubt you'll be able to fit in with high society."

"What? Who says I don't know how to behave in high society?" Sokka barked, standing up straight at his full height, towering over the smaller woman.

"This isn't just high society though, this is in the palace. The King will be there," She explained.

"I'm very good acquaintances with King Kuei, thank you very much!" Sokka raised his voice.

"Because you're the Avatar's little friend. Take that away and you're just a Water Tribe peasant," Azula explained.

"And what, you're not a peasant?" Sokka sneered.

"No, I'm an artist, and I make a fine living off of it," Azula said, "I also have plenty of experience with royalty and high society, or have you forgotten that so quickly?"

"I haven't forgotten anything, but what makes you think I don't know how to be all prim and proper?" Sokka demanded.

"The fact you can't stand up straight, you smell like an ostrich-horse, and the fact that you don't have any manners might have something to do with it," Azula said.

"My manners are fine!" Sokka protested.

"Maybe for a barbarian," Azula scoffed.

"If you don't think I'd fit in, why do you want to take me so bad?" Sokka asked.

"If you want to get technical, you're my apprentice. I think it would be a good experience for you."

"But you say I'm the one with bad manners? You're pretty much demanding that I go with you to this thing. Where I'm from, its polite to ask nicely, not demand," Sokka said.

"I knew you'd say yes so I didn't bother," Azula smirked.

"You knew I'd say yes?" Sokka growled. She was making him a bit angry. So much for being friendly.

"Mhmm," Azula replied, examining her fingernails.

"You know what?" Sokka said, getting a rather devious idea. He smirked, moving behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders before she could turn around to face him.

"What?" She spoke the word through gritted teeth.

"I'll go with you…if…"

"If what?" She grunted, her patience growing thin with him. What was he up to?

"You work too much, " He said as he started to rub her shoulders a little, "You're so tense."

"Part of that's your fault," She remarked.

"I know, I know. But do you want me to go with you to this thing or not?" Sokka questioned slowly, still massaging her shoulders. He was feeling particularly daring today; he moved his fingers to the base of her neck as well. She sighed. Sokka wasn't sure if it was a response to his question or a response to his hands. "I'll go with you to this thing in Ba Sing Se if you take the day off. From everything."

"What do you mean?" She demanded sharply.

"When's the last time you took a break?"

"I don't need breaks," Azula insisted. Sokka snickered to himself, moving a little closer to her and leaning down towards her ear.

"Azula," He breathed her name barely above a whisper, "You're only human. Humans need little vacations every once in a while."

"I have things to do. I have to clean the house, I have commissions I need to finish and-"

"All of that will still be here tomorrow. The universe will forgive you for taking one day off, I promise."

And that's how Azula got roped into spending the day with Sokka, trying to have fun. To Azula, there wasn't any time for fun. Fun was for slackers and underachievers. And she wasn't either of those.

Currently, they were walking into town. Sokka was carrying a picnic basket full of…Azula had no idea what. She was carrying a leather book that she used for sketching, along with some leads. Maybe she'd find some time to do a little sketching sometime during the day. Then the day wouldn't have been a total complete waste

"What are we even going to be doing?" Azula demanded once they got into town.

"Well, first I wanted to do a little shopping, but then I thought we'd go fishing," Sokka told her. Azula stopped in her tracks and stared at him incredulously.

"You can't be serious."

"Serious as I can be," Sokka grinned.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Azula grumbled, "Let's just keep going and get this over with."

Eventually, once Sokka had finished his shopping, he and Azula headed out towards the river. Sokka handed the picnic basket to Azula and took He got down on his hands and knees and started digging in the mud, searching for worms. Azula gave him a disgusted look and walked away. She was so tempted to just go home but against her better judgement, she stayed. She found a relatively flat spot of ground and laid down a blanket. She sat down on it and started sketching. Bugs and butterflies started to grace the pages of the book. Little snippets of scenery also started appearing. As well as just some mindless doodles that ended up looking quite a bit like Sokka.

Upon that realization, Azula quickly turned the page, ignoring the heat that had flooded to her cheeks. Oh how she hated that man sometimes. Most of the time. He wasn't supposed to make her feel like this. He was an idiot. A peasant. Not the kind of person Azula ever saw herself wanting to be with. Mentally, she slapped herself. This was no time for silly school girl crushes. She was far too old for that anyway.

Azula barely noticed as he approached her, she was too caught up in her thoughts, denying she had anything that resembled a feeling towards him.

"Come on," Sokka said, grinning down at her and holding out his hand. Grudgingly, Azula placed her hand in his and let him pull her up to her feet.

"This better be as fun as you say it is," She scoffed, realizing she was still holding his hand. Azula quickly let go and distanced herself from him a little. She quickly shoved everything back into the picnic basket, she made no attempt to be neat about it, for once. Just getting it to fit was enough for her right now. She'd fix it later.

"It will be," Sokka assured her, leading her over to the riverbank. As they made their way down the river, he watched Azula, trying to figure out what she was thinking. What she was feeling. The expression on her face showed nothing. Her gaze was focused forward and was unchanging.

"Just a warning, you're gonna get wet," Sokka grinned. She gave him a dangerous stare.

After a quick lesson in the art of fishing, Azula found herself standing knee-deep in the river, holding a fishing rod awkwardly. (Which was quite an amusing sight considering the fact that most things came natural to the princess.) Sokka was a few feet away from her, standing in deeper water. It didn't bother him as much as it bothered her.

For what seemed like a long, long while, Azula stood there. Not one fish had even tried to take the bait on her line. Frustrated, she pouted a little when she looked up to see Sokka reeling in what seemed like his tenth or eleventh fish. It was a small one though, so he just threw it back into the water.

"Haven't you caught anything yet?" Sokka called over to her with a big, happy smile.

"No," Azula growled. Sokka snickered a little. He was enjoying this more than he should have been.

"Why don't you come over here by me? You might have better luck," Sokka suggested. Azula contemplated it for a few moments. If she was closer to him, then it'd be easier to make him miserable and regret forcing her to take the day off. Cruel insults were usually effective.

"Fine," She grumbled. In one hand she held her fishing rod, in her other she hiked up her dress so she wouldn't get it any wetter than it already was. With an exasperated sigh, she waded through the water towards Sokka. She didn't quite make it all the way over to him though because even Princess Azula wasn't immune to sometimes losing her balance and falling. Her foot slid right out from under her in the mud, causing her to fall backwards into the water, making a big splash. She thrashed around for a second, trying to regain her balance and stand up on her feet again. Before she managed to do this, however, Sokka came rushing to her rescue. He grabbed her by her waist and set her upright.

"Are you alright?" He questioned, trying to suppress a laugh, his hands still at her waist.

"I am fine!" She snapped, "Now hands off!" She ordered immediately. Sokka obeyed without question.

"You sure?" Sokka asked again.

"Yes!" She insisted, reaching behind her and pulling the tie out of her hair. She started twisting the wet mess of black to squeeze some of the water out. As she did that, Sokka reached forward and touched her nose, wiping something off, "What was that for?" Azula demanded.

"You had mud on your nose," He replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"…Oh," Azula responded awkwardly. Sokka then picked her fishing rod up and out of the water. He handed it back to her. She held it tightly in her hands as she took a few steps away from him.

A few minutes later, Sokka caught another fish. Out of the corner of her eye Azula saw this and grimaced. Sokka noticed and sighed.

"You need to relax," Sokka said.

"I'm perfectly relaxed," Azula growled.

"You have a raging death grip on your fishing rod," Sokka pointed out. Azula immediately loosened her grip and denied it.

"No I don't!" She protested. Sokka grinned. He reeled in his line and tossed his rod on the riverbank. He was pretty gutsy again and this little trick had worked on her this morning so… Sokka placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her so her back was facing him. She gave a small displeased grunt but did nothing to stop him. He massaged her shoulders, just like he did earlier.

"No, you're not tense at all," Sokka said with sarcasm, "Your muscles are all knotted up."

"Like I said this morning, part of that's your fault and this little day of what you call fun is doing nothing to help," Azula remarked sharply to hide the fact that she actually was enjoying it. Sokka continued, his hands moving over her neck and shoulders.

"This is helping, isn't it?" Sokka murmured in her ear. She snorted and spun around so she was facing him. She met Sokka's eyes with a glare. He smiled, "It was, don't deny it."

"I'm not denying anything," She replied, staring him down.

"Then admit it," Sokka smirked, leaning down over her, their noses were almost touching.

"Admit what?"

"You liked that."

"Liked what?"

"Azula, playing stupid just doesn't work for you," Sokka snickered a bit. She smirked.

Then time just seemed to freeze. Azula couldn't really hear anything around her except for the ba-bum, ba-bum of her heart. She was almost certain he was going to kiss her again. She could feel his warm breath against her cool face and she was just standing there. Did she want him to kiss her again? Not really, right? So then why wasn't she doing anything to stop him?

The stillness was driving her a bit crazy. Why wasn't he making the move? Azula arched her neck towards him a little, tilted her head and parted her lips a bit. She wanted to see if he could resist the bait.

Truthfully, Sokka would have kissed her in that moment. If it wasn't for the sudden tug on her fishing line. When she felt her line being pulled, she instantly turned away from him. Caught a bit off guard, Azula's face lit up as she started reeling it in. Sokka sighed, cursing the fish. It just had to pick that particular moment to bite, didn't it?

The grin grew on Azula's face as she pulled her fish out of the water. It was huge. Sokka stared at it with a mixed expression. More than anything though, he was a bit angry. Stupid fish just had to ruin a perfect opportunity!

"This is a really big fish," Azula commented with a smirk, watching it flail.

"Yeah, very big," Sokka replied, "I can already smell it cookin'," He smirked, taking the fish from her.

"So you mean we're actually going to eat it?" Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Of course we are, you didn't think we'd be having fish for dinner after a day of fishing?" Sokka asked her. She didn't respond. Sokka sighed, "Why don't you go start a fire while I take care of this big guy here."

Azula crossed her arms and stared him down.

"There's spark rocks in the picnic basket!" Sokka assured her. She grunted and climbed out of the river and started collecting sticks to start a fire. As the pile of sticks grew in her arms, Azula's features withered into a scowl. If that fish hadn't have interrupted, he would have kissed her, she knew it. But that wasn't why she was scowling. She was scowling because she was a tad angry with herself for even giving him the bait.

She went back to the spot where she had left the picnic basket and just dropped the sticks beside the blanket so she could go get more. She watched Sokka for a second and sighed. He was so caught up in whatever it was he was doing with that fish he didn't notice her standing there.

After gathering another armful of wood, Azula sat down and started arranging the sticks in a precise way. Sokka glanced in her direction for a moment. She had such a ridiculous eye for detail. "No wonder she went crazy", he thought. Having such an obsession with perfection just couldn't be healthy. But for some reason, Sokka found it rather endearing. He couldn't imagine her any other way.

When she was finally finished meddling with the sticks, Azula dug through the picnic basket looking for the spark rocks. When she found them she stared at them in her palm. She could almost hear them mocking her.

"This is pathetic," She growled as she struck the rocks together, getting them to spark and set one little stick on fire. The tiny flame traveled up that stick and grabbed onto another one quickly but Azula was impatient. If she had still had her firebending, there would have been a big, beautiful fire burning in front of her in less than a second. But there she was, stuck with those infernal rocks.

Getting sick of striking the rocks, Azula threw them off to the side and waited for the fire to grow on its own. She never realized how slow fire could be before and it was really irritating her. She sat back and pulled her knees up to her chest. She closed her eyes and a small smile grew on her lips as she started humming, then singing quietly to herself.

"_An extraordinary beauty from the North, the most beautiful being in the world_," Azula was never entirely positive why she sang that particular little lullaby, but it was awfully fitting. It just seemed to always be on her mind.

"_From her first glance, the city bows before her, from her second the empire falls to ruins…_" She continued, Sokka made his way back up by her. He heard her voice singing quietly, almost matching the uneven crackle of the fire.

"Hey," Sokka interrupted her. She cracked an eye open to see him, then replied.

"Hello," She said softly. Sokka sat down next to her and held a long branch that had the stabbed-through fish sitting on the end. He held the fish above the fire, letting them start to cook.

"You look tired," Sokka commented.

"A little," Azula said, her eyes focused on the fire.

"Its a very nice fire," Sokka said stupidly.

"I'd hope so," Azula snorted. Sokka sighed. That hadn't been a very good thing to say.

"I don't think any less of you, you know," He added. That probably hadn't been good thing to say either.

"For what?"

"For you not being a firebender anymore. You're still just as scary."

Azula looked up at him with a "Are you serious?" kind of glare.

"Well, some of the time you're just as scary," Sokka clarified.

"Am I scary right now?" Azula questioned, there was a slightly playful air in her voice.

"Naw. Slightly intimidating, yes. Scary, no," Sokka said. Azula smiled.

"Only slightly?"

"I guess I'm just getting too used to you," He grinned.

"I guess so," She looked back at the fire. Adjusting his grip so he could hold the branch with one hand, he reached over towards her and draped his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her closer to him, she didn't pull away from him.

"You really miss it, don't you?" Sokka questioned quietly, referring to her bending. She looked up at him for a second before her attention turned back to the fire.

"A lot," She replied quietly. Sokka glanced down at her, her face was twisted into a sad expression. He would have expressed some sort of pity for her but he knew she didn't want it. He just squeezed her shoulder a tiny bit as a comforting gesture.

They stayed like that until Sokka declared the fish done enough to eat. He untangled his arm from around her and pulled the fish out of the fire completely so they could start cooling down. He touched them a few times each before they cooled down. When it didn't hurt to touch them anymore, he pulled one off and held it out for Azula. She stared at him incredulously.

"You expect me to eat it…with my hands?" She questioned with mild disgust.

"Yeah, why not?" Sokka shrugged.

"Just isn't something I'm used to."

"Chopsticks are overrated," Sokka joked, "The river is right there for you to wash your hands in when you're done," He pointed out. Azula raised her eyebrow for a second before she grabbed the fish from him.

For the most part, their meal was quiet, until Sokka laughed as he watched her meticulously pull the bones out of the fish. She didn't even notice his childish giggling. Or at least she didn't notice until she was almost done.

"What's so funny?" She demanded.

"You," Sokka said.

"Me?"

"You. You're so obsessive over tiny details," Sokka stated.

"I'm a perfectionist, there's nothing wrong with that," Azula defended herself.

"No, but you're missing out on a whole lot of things by focusing on such tiny things. You really need to learn how to lighten up once in a while."

"I thought that was the whole point of today?" Azula questioned.

"It was and you haven't learned anything," Sokka sighed.

"One day of fishing and eating like a barbarian isn't going to change my ways. I'm stubborn," Azula grinned.

"No kidding," Sokka laughed.

They were quiet again while they finished eating. Until Sokka found something else she was doing to be unintentionally hilarious. She was licking her fingers.

"That's not very lady-like," Sokka pointed out. Azula shrugged.

"That's the point."

"So you're licking your fingers to prove me wrong?"

"Sounds about right."

"You're frustrating."

"So are you."

They paused for a second.

"This is going nowhere," Sokka declared.

"No, not really," Azula agreed, licking off her index finger. Sokka found this to be unbelievably sexy. He wasn't sure if that was the intention or not.

"You need to stop being so spiteful," He gulped, feeling awfully warm.

"I need to do a lot of things," Azula commented. Sokka's eyes moved around frantically, searching for another conversation topic. He found one. Poking out of the picnic basket was her sketchbook. Sokka wiped his hands on his pants and then reached over and grabbed it.

"So what were you drawing before?" He questioned. Azula bolted from her spot to grab the book back from him.

"Nothing important! Just sketches, nothing worth seeing!" Azula said, her voice slightly frantic as she tugged on the book. Sokka tugged back, though.

"I think you're hiding something," Sokka eyed her carefully.

"Hiding something? That's silly, why would I hide something?" Azula said, forcing a laugh.

"Then why won't you let me see what's in here?" Sokka asked. Azula paused for a second.

"Because you didn't ask if you could see it first!" Azula shot at him.

"Alright, may I please see what's in your sketchbook, Azula?"

"No!" Azula declared, tugging on the book again. He still wouldn't let go. She growled, "Just give it back?"

"No!" Sokka mimicked her, yanking the book from her hands. She glared at him. Murderously. He ignored it and opened it up, flipping to the most recent pages. He recognized some sketches that were of the plants surrounding the river, some just a general depiction of the landscape. And on the last page there were sketches of a man. A man that looked a lot like Sokka himself. He glanced up at Azula. She had a slightly horrified expression on her face. Sokka could tell she was trying to hide it. He looked back down at the page. She obviously spent more time on these, they were quite a bit more detailed.

"Are these of me?" Sokka asked, holding up the book so Azula could see.

"I was practicing my male anatomy," Azula barked, "Don't get too excited about it."

"Then why didn't you want me to see it?"

"Because what I draw in my sketchbook is none of your business," she snapped. Sokka sighed, closing the book and handing it back to her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm in it. You know I like seeing your drawings and stuff," Sokka said. Azula took the book and tucked it back into the picnic basket.

"Apology accepted," She said, averting her eyes from him.

"We should probably pack up and start heading back to your place anyway, its getting pretty late," Sokka said, grabbing the old bucket he had used to throw bait in and getting up on his feet.

"Sounds like a plan," Azula stood up as well. She was going to start packing up other things until she saw Sokka was walking back down towards the river. She decided to follow him instead. He noticed and smiled to himself.

"So did you have fun today?" He asked, squatting down on the river bank to fill the bucket with water.

"I suppose. Wasn't my typical idea of fun but it was still enjoyable," Azula replied nonchalantly.

"Then what is your typical idea of fun, princess? Ordering servants around, playing God, that sort of thing?" Sokka said, laying the sarcasm on as thick as he possibly could. If the devious gears hadn't already been turning in her mind, Azula would have probably gotten angry at him for that statement. But she was planning something and he was completely oblivious.

"You know me so well, Sokka!" Azula said with sarcasm of her own, "But you're forgetting one little thing. This."

And then Azula proceeded to push him into the river. She laughed as he thrashed in the water to get his bearings. When he stood up, he was covered in mud, but he was grinning ear to ear and laughing.

"You're going to pay for that," He said as he crawled out of the river and stood in front of her.

"How?" Azula smirked, putting a hand on her hip.

"Like this," Sokka whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled their bodies together and jumped back into the river, taking Azula with him. She shrieked before she hit the water.

When they both surfaced, Sokka still had his hands at her hips and her arms hand snaked around his shoulders. Both still had a few giggles left in them as well.

"I should have seen that coming a mile away," Azula snickered.

"I'm glad you didn't," Sokka replied, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against hers.

"Why?"

"Because hearing you scream like that just made my day," Sokka explained.

"I didn't scream!"

"Yes you did."

"Hypothetically speaking, what if I did scream? Why would that make your day?" The smirk on her lips was obvious in the tone of her voice. Sokka laughed softly.

"You did scream when I pulled you into the water and it made my day because it was kind of adorable," Sokka explained.

"We should go," Azula said sternly, pulling away from him and climbing up the riverbank. She squeezed as much water out of her hair and her clothes as she possibly could before she walked back up to the fire. Sokka sighed and watched after her as he got out of the water for the second time. He grabbed the bucket again, filled it up and also headed back towards Azula and their little camp. He dumped the water on the fire, effectively putting it out. Azula packed everything she could back into the picnic basket. She held it at her side and stared at Sokka, waiting for him. She hoped the glare would motivate him to move a little faster. Azula wanted to get home so she could change into some dry clothes and immerse herself back into a painting. Paintings weren't complicated like relationships with people were.

"You look freezing," Sokka said as he slung the rest of their things over his shoulder and started walking with Azula back into town.

"No, I'm fine," Azula insisted. If her pride would have let her, she would have stood closer to him.

"You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, now stop talking, I was enjoying the silence," She snapped. Sokka stopped in his tracks for a second, a little surprised she used that tone with him. It had been a long time since he had heard that particular strain of malice in her voice directed at him.

Though they took their time on the way back, the walk was quiet. Sokka was contemplating what he could have done wrong. Honestly, he didn't think he had pushed his limits too far! Then again, limits with Azula were such a fine line that most of the time you could barely see them. Azula was mentally scolding herself for acting like such an idiot in front of him. She was better than that and she couldn't believe she was developing feelings for that…that thing. It frustrated her. Azula was just the type of person who would have been perfectly content living alone for the rest of her life, not having to worry about anyone but herself. But then came Sokka, that stupid Water Tribe peasant who just had to mess things up.

Both stood outside of Azula's home. She stood near the door, Sokka stood in front of her.

"I know it probably didn't seem like it, but I did have fun today," Azula admitted, "And that fish was very good."

"I'm really glad to hear it," Sokka smiled," And thanks, about the fish. I was worried you wouldn't like it."

"It was…wonderful," Azula bit her lip, unable to find a more fitting adjective at the moment.

"I had fun today too, it was a nice break from our everyday routine," Sokka said, stepping a little closer to her.

"It was and I really want to go change, I'm still soaking wet," Azula said in a slightly broken tone. She was uncomfortable, Sokka could tell. It was painfully obvious. To him, at least.

"Alright, go," He said with a shrug, but as she started to open the door, he stopped her. Sokka slid one of his hands over her cheek. She swallowed hard. His first thought was he was going to kiss her on the lips goodnight. But then he thought that might not be the best idea in the world so he opted to kiss her cheek instead. He leaned in and pressed his lips against her warm cheek. When he pulled away, Azula was standing there in something that resembled a state of shock. He could have sworn there was a reddish tint to her face that hadn't been there before, though.

And in an instant she threw the door open and slammed it behind her. Sokka could only laugh. She was so funny. She must have forgot that he was staying with her for that split second. So he stood outside a few minutes and waited before he entered. Hopefully, she wouldn't kick his ass.

* * *

A/N: Well, my surgery went fine but then I missed so much school it took forever to catch back up. But Winter break is just around the corner so hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner!

I hope you all enjoyed this fluffy chapter. Its going to be the last fluffy one for a while. Muwahaha~

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, REVIEWS, BANANAS?

~miss frerak


	11. chapter TEN

Sokka couldn't possibly deny that he wasn't enjoying this, oh no. If he even tried it, it'd be the most pathetic excuse of a lie ever conceived. Feeling Azula's body against his own as she deepened their already ferocious kiss, it was amazing. Well, sort of beyond amazing but Sokka's head was having a hard time finding any other words to describe it considering he was pretty preoccupied with pressing her into that wall. And the way she just kept pushing back against him, oh, this was so much better than he had imagined it'd be. Since of course, he had been doing an awful lot of wondering about this sort of thing lately. In fact, it wasn't until Azula slid her hand into his hair and slightly pulled at it did he realize he wasn't dreaming this up. He was passionately kissing the former princess of the Fire Nation and loving every second of it. But whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. This was just all so fast. How was he still alive? How on Earth did this, y'know. Get started?

** p.a.i.n.t**

Groggily, Sokka sat up and rubbed his eyes. He dragged himself up and into the small kitchen. He rummaged around for something to eat before he realized all that was left was some fruit. He and Azula had to go shopping today. With a groan, he grabbed an apple and took a big bite out of it. Honestly, he was still half asleep. He headed towards the front door, wanting to get a little fresh air. But Azula stopped him.

"Wow, it lives," She said sarcastically, not even bothering to look up from the painting she was working on. Sokka turned around and rolled his eyes.

"Ha ha, very funny," Sokka replied, walking over to her, "Whatcha working' on?"

"My diabolical plan to take over the world," Azula said seriously, not missing a beat. Sokka stared at her wide eyed for a second before he realized she was being sarcastic again. His brain just hadn't been turned on yet. He studied the painting for a long time before he spoke.

"Who is that?" He questioned.

"I don't know. Nightmare," She replied. Sokka took another bite of his apple and leaned down to examine the painting a little more. It was a man. He was a bit older. There were creases in his face, he had prominent cheek bones and a long forehead. His eyes were a cold, icy green color. Sharp and menacing.

"Hmm."

"What?"

"Hmm."

"Idiot."

"It kinda looks like Long Feng," Sokka said out of the blue.

"Long Feng?"

"Yeah, Long Feng, that guy who was practically running the Earth Kingdom way back in the day."

"I have no idea who you're talking about," Azula said. Sokka dropped his apple in shock. He stared at her incredulously. She couldn't possibly be serious.

"You can't be serious. You have to know who Long Feng is. You were working with him, then you turned on him and were in charge of the Dai Li! They were your souvenirs!" Sokka rambled.

"Must have been some dream you had," Azula commented.

"It wasn't a dream, it really happened!" Sokka said, "You snuck into the palace pretending to be a Kyoshi warrior-"

"Pretending to be your girlfriend, if you want to be more specific," Azula grinned. Sokka growled something under his breath.

"Yeah, and then you were working with Long Feng and you were in charge of his Dai Li. Then he tried to double cross you and you double crossed him right back. Then you manipulated Zuko into doing your bidding and you guys took over the Earth Kingdom!"

"Still have no idea who you're talking about, Sokka," Azula growled.

"But you remember everything else?" Sokka inquired, confusion written all over his face.

"Well, yes. Why wouldn't I?" Azula looked up at him with a stare that said 'you're so stupid.'

"I…I don't know," Sokka sighed. He was frustrated. Why wouldn't she remember Long Feng? Selective memories? Made sense. A little. But he realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with this conversation. Both of them would just end up frustrated and angry. Sokka started looking at all of his paintings as a distraction. He smiled, very proud of himself for what he had managed to accomplish. Azula put her brush in the vial of water and swished it around a bit before she pushed herself away from the table and stood. She hovered behind him.

"You might actually be able to sell some of these in Ba Sing Se," Azula commented.

"You really think so?"

"Mhmm. Most rich people haven't a clue what good art is," Azula explained.

"Are you saying I have bad art?" Sokka demanded, slightly insulted.

"Not at all" Azula said immediately.

"This is just your way of telling me I'm actually pretty good at this, isn't it?" He grinned. Azula looked away.

"You still have to paint me this week," She changed the subject.

"We need to go shopping first. I'm absolutely starving," Sokka laughed.

"And there's no more black. Or red, or green," Azula added, referring to paint.

"Black, red and green might help. Just a little," Sokka smiled, she nodded.

"Go get ready to go. I'm leaving in ten minutes," Azula said sternly.

So then Sokka spent a good majority of his day dutifully following Azula around the marketplace, carrying her bags and offering sarcastic comments whenever the opportunity would arise. Shopping with Azula was just...kinda boring. If she wasn't rushing all over to get what she wanted and leave she was on the opposite side of the spectrum and obsessing over tiny, inconsequential details. Or at least details that seemed silly to Sokka. When it was all over, Sokka was so eternally grateful for it to be done. Aside from the fact their shopping trip had dragged on forever, he was just glad to finally put all the bags full of stuff down.

Once everything was put away, Sokka helped Azula with making dinner and they sat down for their meal. They actually conversed with one another, even laughing occasionally. It was a far cry from how dinner used to be between them. Sokka reliving some of the greatest comedic moments of his youth, Azula recalling some of the silly pranks she used to play on her brother to make him look like an idiot. Nothing too terribly personal. Topics that usually shied away from actual feelings and the fact they had once been enemies. It was so easy to forget that now. Maybe it was because a full decade had passed them by. Or because they all grew up and changed. Or maybe it was just because Sokka was having such a hard time keeping her from his mind. Which made sense considering he was sort of living with her but it was definitely more than that. He genuinely enjoyed her company. They had fallen into a pattern of existence that was comfortable, desirable.

While Azula tried to pretend that their little fishing trip to the river had never happened, Sokka could tell she had been behaving slightly different. Sometimes she'd snap at him with a certain harshness in her tone. It wasn't quite like any of her other typical snaps. There was something a bit conflicted about it. Like she didn't quite know how to react to whatever he was saying and so the default response was to get snappy. Then there were other times where he'd catch her glancing at him for no obvious reason in particular and the rare moments where she'd let her guard down and be strangely kind. Of course, once she realized she was playing nice, she would go right back to the snappy snappiness but Sokka wouldn't have it any other way. That crabbiness of hers was one of those things that had become strangely endearing about her.

"I'll clean up in the kitchen, why don't you go get things ready to paint the meantime?" Azula said, standing up and taking his empty bowl from him. If Sokka hadn't known any better he would have interpreted that smile on her lips as the flirty sort. But he knew better. Definitely knew better and to think like that was just silly. Preposterous!

"Yep, sounds like a plan," Sokka agreed, trying to match her maybe-could-be-flirting grin but sort of failing and fumbling in the process. She raised a skeptical eyebrow at him before turning away and heading into the kitchen. Once Azula was safely out of earshot, Sokka started mumbling under his breath.

"Of course she wasn't being flirty, she's Azula, she's never flirty. That's why she gave you that look, she thought you were being stupid. But she always thinks you're being stupid so. Well, if she thinks you're so stupid, why are you so into her?" Sokka kept on muttering and grumbling. To anyone who might have heard him, it would have likely just sounded like a jumbled mess of nothing. Which was a good thing seeing as Sokka never would have wanted Azula to be able to understand that little ramble.

With a slight edge to his motions, Sokka started setting everything up just the way he liked it. He was just a little bit frustrated with himself. And a little frustrated with Azula for being, well, Azula. It was so hard to read her, to figure out what she was really thinking. It never had been an easy task, he remembered how she had been able to fool Toph when she obviously lied so many years ago. The only problem now was that he actually _wanted_ to know what was going on in that pretty little head of hers.

With something of a pout, Sokka plopped down into his chair and just started practicing his brush strokes while he waited for Azula to finish with her meticulous cleaning. He got pretty involved with it; Sokka didn't notice when Azula carefully slid into her chair. She sat there for a while, just watching him. Then she got impatient and cleared her throat to get his attention. Sokka's head snapped up at the sound, slightly startled by her sudden presence.

"Did I scare you?" Azula asked, smirking.

"No!" Sokka protested, "I just...wasn't expecting your...you-ness."

"You're pathetic."

"Well! You're..." Nope. No acceptable insults were coming to him, "You're just..." Still nothing. Exasperated, Sokka let out a long sigh. It was like admitting defeat!

"Since you can't think of anything intelligent to say, why don't we get started, hm?" Azula said, her lips curling up into her version of a sickly sweet smile.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it. Stop your nagging. Naggy nagger," Sokka grumbled, grabbing a new piece of parchment. He stared at it for a few moments, picturing what he was about to paint on it. Laying out a sort of mental game plan for what colors he'd use, how he'd perfect the curves in his lines. He was particularly determined tonight.

His eyes wandered up to Azula, examining her shape. Analyzing her and getting mesmerized. The way her hair cascaded over her shoulders, flowing like a black waterfall. The graceful way she arched her neck, her posture and the curve of her hips. Her frumpy peasant clothes did a horrible job of covering up her elegance. She still looked like a princess, beautiful in a way he couldn't really describe. The more his skills improved, the more Sokka wanted to capture that so someone else could see her the way he now did.

Sokka's intense concentration put him in another trance once he actually started working. Pressing his brush down, controlling the paint and letting the colors bleed together in a precise way. Greens turned into the fabric of her dress, the darker shades becoming the folds. Black and blue were harmonized to bring forth her hair and her face, Sokka still wasn't confident in his abilities to capture that correctly. He doubted he ever would.

He looked up at her again to study, resting his cheek against his hand. Briefly, Azula looked back at him, their eyes colliding. She looked away, then her gaze returned. A genuine smile grew on her face, softening her usually harsh stare and making her chuckle slightly.

"You have something on your face," Azula mentioned, breaking her pose to point at her cheek where Sokka's face was approximately smudged.

"Oh, right. Oops, kinda just, y'know. Getting in the painterly zone," he explained, slightly embarrassed. With a dopey grin, he wiped at his cheek with his sleeve, unknowingly making it worse. With all that concentrating, he really hadn't been paying much attention to all the paint that had winded up on him and to Azula? This was incredibly amusing. Her laughing grew a bit louder, less restrained.

She took a brush in her hand, one with a long handle that was currently loaded up with red paint. Then Azula leaned over and smeared it across Sokka's forehead.

"You missed a spot," she told him, adopting one of her more typical deadpan tones as she spoke. She was trying to hide how entertaining she found this.

"Hey! What was that for? You're just making it-" His protests were interrupted by Azula using her lightning fast reflexes to put a big, red blob of paint on his cheek. Sokka pouted at her, she smiled and shrugged. "You really need to stop doing-" He tried to block her as her hand darted out but nope, she was far too fast for him. Sokka ended up with a blue dot on his nose.

"What? You're always complaining that I never lighten up," Azula teased. That was Sokka's breaking point. Suddenly, he bolted up to his feet and towered over her, making his best effort at a 'I am DISPLEASED' sort of face. It probably looked far more dramatic than he intended.

"That's it!" He exclaimed, grabbing a brush and dipping it in some paint. Then he lunged at Azula, trying to get it on her face. It didn't exactly work. Azula stood and dodged his attack, bent his arm back and took the brush from him. Sokka ended up with a purple stripe on his neck.

"You're really bad at this game," Azula snickered.

"I didn't know this was a game, I mean, I was just trying to finish my painting and then you started with all this crazy and-" His rambling just left Sokka wide open for another paint attack.

"Come on, Sokka. Lighten up," Azula just couldn't stop with this, it was too much fun to get him all flustered and to turn the tables on him.

"I am perfectly light! That's me, perfectly light guy," he said, trying to retaliate against her once more. Again, she blocked it and the color ended up on Sokka instead. "You know what? You don't play fair."

"I didn't know there were rules," Azula raised an eyebrow and gave him a look.

"You know what I mean!" He exclaimed, grabbing another brush and loading it up with orange.

"Fine, I'll give you a free shot. That's fair, yes?" Azula offered with a smile.

"Alright," Sokka eyed her carefully as she moved her hands behind her back. He was suspicious of her since hey, she was still Azula but what did he have to lose if he went along with it? He took aim at her face again but just as the colored fibers were about to make contact with her skin, Azula's hand darted out from behind her, taking the brush and using it against him. Again. The former princess couldn't help but erupt with laughter at him this time. Some things would never change about her.

"You're still so gullible," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Augh!" Sokka yelled in frustration, "and you're still a terrible person!"

"Not my fault you couldn't see that coming a mile away," Azula shrugged. And that was Sokka's tipping point. Since he obviously wasn't going to win this...weird fight with paint unless he changed tactics. He took a step away from the table and faced her. They just watched each other for a few moments, the tension only escalating between them. Slowly, Sokka stepped towards her, needing to close a bit of the distance. Her back was a few inches from being up against the wall so it was his plan to get her pinned up against it. He just knew that if he made a strike from this far away, it'd give her too much of a window to deflect the attack.

Suddenly, he lunged at her, aiming to snatch her wrists and push them into the wall. And it actually worked, which made Sokka slightly suspicious since Azula wasn't the sort to let something like that just slide. She had to be up to something but for the moment, he was happy. He smirked, pushing her wrists together so he could trap them with one hand and use the other to reach behind him and swipe a brush off the table.

"This feels awfully familiar, doesn't it?" Azula asked with a smirk.

"Things are a lot different now," Sokka retorted, painting a line of black down the bridge of her nose. Azula's only response was to break free from his grip, jab him in the stomach and reverse their positions.

"Yes, I definitely think they are," she said. Neither moved, only stared. Sokka wasn't sure of what to do next now that she had him pinned. Even without her bending, Azula was still a superb martial artist and although he probably had the advantage of physical strength, he was certain she knew a million ways to use that against him.

She released one of his hands so she could free her own. Sokka raised an eyebrow, unsure of her intentions here. But then they became perfectly clear. All she did was take the rag that was hanging from her belt and start wiping all the paint from Sokka's face. Most of it came off without much effort, only a few colored speckles remained on his face in spots where the paint had already started to dry. When she was finished, she smiled. He tugged the cloth out of her hand and tried to return the favor, gently wiping the black away. Then he dropped it to the floor and complete silence fell between them again. Azula showed no signs of letting him go and Sokka showed no signs of trying to break free. They were stuck, neither quite knowing what to do next.

Azula was conflicted, she had started this in a rare moment of feeling completely at ease with him. Sokka's mind was still whirling, perplexed over what had come over her. And how frustrated he was with her because he could never figure her out. But staring down at her just coaxed his mind back to where it had been before she started the fight. Studying her features, watching her chest rise and fall with her breath. Everything she did oozed such grace that it was hard to look at her even though he couldn't look away.

Tentatively, he placed his free hand just above her hip and waited for some sort of reaction on her end. Azula flinched slightly but otherwise stood her ground. This gave him more courage and hope that she wouldn't push him away. He started moving his hand up along the side of her body, closing his eyes and trying to imagine the curve painted on parchment. He truly had not given the shape any justice. There was nothing like feeling it with his own palm, even through the layers of cloth of her dress. It made him want to feel them without, skin against skin.

Azula raised her own hand and slid it over his shoulder. Her other hand remained grasped tightly around Sokka's wrist, keeping him pinned against the wall. She was unsure of proper behavior in a situation such as this. Truly, she had no clue. No other person had ever gotten this close to her and she didn't know what to do. With her emotions, with the surge of energy and feeling she was getting as he touched her. It was terrible to be so lost, especially when she was so used to control. Azula didn't like being so far outside of her comfort zone and yet...she was still the one in a better position to stop this and she wasn't. She was letting this happen because despite everything, she wanted it. To live as he did, not so bound by silly rules. Even if it was just once.

Sokka's hand ended up following her body up to her face, cupping her cheek. He felt like he should say something. Words might be a needed thing at the present moment. But then again, if he said the wrong thing or maybe any words at all would end up scaring Azula off. Or maybe she'd do that thing where she horribly kicked his butt into a bloody pulp. He highly doubted it would come of that but hey, she was still Azula and for some reason, her unpredictability had become an endearing quality.

So he ended up deciding to keep his mouth shut. In a way. That was a tall order from him, though. As she tilted her head up towards him, he leaned down to meet her in the middle. Pressing his lips into hers was a...pretty good way to keep his mouth occupied. Azula wasn't shocked by his actions, she had invited them, after all. Still, it took her a moment to start kissing him back. Once Sokka was relatively convinced that she wasn't going to push him away like the last time, he kissed her harder.

Just like that, she released the hand she'd been keeping captive so that she could wrap her arm around him to pull herself closer. With his newfound freedom, Sokka's arm immediately snaked around her waist and closed the already small gap between them, holding her tightly against him.

Sokka took a step away from the wall and quickly reversed their positions once more so that she was the one pinned once more. A small grunt came from Azula's throat as a reaction to numerous things. The mix of displeasure at how easily she was allowing him to dominate her and at how good it felt to feel him against her like this. The fire building inside her, the way her heart was pounding and fueling this passion she hadn't completely realized had been building between them. Her hands slid up and grasped at his brown hair, pulling at him and making another moaning sound as a shiver caused her to arch into him.

So that's how it happened. That's how Sokka ended up realizing that he wasn't dreaming this encounter.

And it was pretty awesome.

He deepened the kiss as she pushed them away from the wall. Despite her inexperience, Azula wasn't going to let him take complete control so easily. She turned and leaned against the table, pulling Sokka with her. His hands wandered, ghosting over her chest and then going down to hold her hips. He pushed her onto the table a bit, wanting to maintain as much contact as possible. The sudden movement shifted things on the table, causing a few brushes to roll onto the floor and a vial of paint to spill. Even as the red liquid leaked onto Sokka's painting, neither noticed and Azula even took the opportunity to slam him back into the wall. She was still unsure but it didn't show; Azula was still a master at disguising the truth. She untied his belt and let it fall to the floor, allowing his top to hang open. Her fingers immediately gravitated towards his skin, surveying the contours of his muscles before she pushed the fabric off his shoulders. For a brief moment, Sokka let go of her so gravity could finish the job Azula had started and leave him completely shirtless. In an instant, his hands were back on her and his lips moved to her cheek, to her jaw, to her neck. Azula gasped at the new contact, surprised by the way it sent a pang of heat down through her body.

With his chest and shoulders exposed completely, Azula's hands explored his skin more thoroughly. She rolled her hips into him once. Sokka moaned against her flesh as he continued to work on her neck. It prompted her to repeat the action again and again until Sokka stopped her. There were no longer any doubts in his mind as to where this was heading.

Sokka peeled her away from him just enough so he could escape from the wall and take a few steps towards the hallway, taking her with him. It wasn't nearly that easy to actually get there, though. They had to take a few more turns slamming each other into walls before the pair made it that far. Sokka began returning the favor that she had started for him, untying her dress and sliding each of the layers off her slim figure.

Once there was even more skin against skin, it was probably a miracle that they made it down the rest of the hallway and into Azula's bedroom where the tension that had been growing so fiercely between them would finally be relieved. It was both gentle and loving yet unspeakably fierce and passionate. Sokka had found peace in the strangest of places; Azula had found a connection with another human soul that she had never thought she'd get to experience.

They continued until each was completely spent, so exhausted from the act that there was little time to contemplate the repercussions of it before they both fell into a blissful slumber. Neither knew how this would now change things, how it would complicate their already puzzling relationship. But figuring that out could probably wait until morning.

Morning, when a large, six-legged beast would descend from the sky and change everything.

* * *

_Sooo. I'm actually not dead. Surprise! Shocker, I know. It's been years since I've updated this story and for that, I am terribly sorry to have left so many lovely people hanging. Half of this chapter has been sitting on my hard drive, unfinished for this long. Occasionally, I'd poke at it but for the most part I'd just feel guilty that I didn't have the willpower to finish._

_Then "The Search" happened and I was overloaded with Azula feels. That lit a fire under my butt to finish this chapter. I honestly don't know if I'll have the drive to start the next chapter, let alone finish the whole story but even if I don't, I feel like this would be a sliiightly better spot to leave off. The scene with them fighting with the paint is what inspired the whole story in the first place, after all!  
_

_Anyway, thanks for all the love and support!_


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